Wa Police parades arrested armed robbers

The Upper West Regional Police Command is making inroads in the fight against crime in the region.

The command has within three months, arrested 10 suspected armed robbers in some communities in the region, with many of the suspects coming from the Wa Municipality.

On Wednesday, the Wa Police however had a tough time arresting one of the suspects, Inusah Abdul-Rahman, who resisted arrest at his abode.

Abdul-Rahman, alias Angola, a wanted armed robber attacked a traveller with cutlass at Kabanye in front of the Insurance Office and robbed him of his motorbike.

After the operation, he went into hiding, but upon investigations, the suspect was arrested in his room the same day.

The police paraded some of the suspects in its custody to the public on Thursday, which included Inusah Abdul-Rahman, Al- Jimah Yahaya, Soro Adams, Inusah Osman, Iddrisu Imoro, Sambo Fuseini, Ingah Fuseini, Fuseini Mutari, Fatawu Yakubu and Yakubu Emma, all aged between 19 and 31 years.

The suspects had been involved in various robberies, including stealing of motorbikes, raiding residential areas, attacks on travellers to and from the lorry stations in the municipality and on major roads in the region.

The Kojokperi –Wahabu –Funsi and kojokperi-Wahabu-Wellembelle roads had been notorious for armed robbery because of the remoteness of the area, the police said.

Later at a news conference, the Upper West Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Mr. Kwasi Mensah Duku said Al-Jimah, a Fulani, had attacked passengers on the Wa to Tumu and Kupulma to Leo roads.

Twenty-eight year-old Al-Jimah is alleged to have masterminded most of the robberies on that road and was also the brain behind two other robbery cases near the Wa High Court.

DCP Mr. Duku said the suspect had been on the wanted list of the police since 2010 and was arrested on August 17, 2014 at his hideout.

Soro Adams, 31, is also alleged to have hatched most of the operations in the Wa Municipality, organizing his boys to snatch motorbikes from people, especially in the early hours of the day.

He and his boys are alleged to have also operated from time to time on the Jeffisi-Han road.

Suspect Jallo Haruna and two others, all from Burkina Faso, were alleged to have robbed a traveller of his tricycle and money on the Vieri -Siiru road near Wa.

The complainant informed members of the nearby communities, who mobilized and laid ambush to arrest Jallo but the two others managed to escape.

DCP Mr. Duku said one Inusah Osman, who had also been on the police wanted list was arrested from his hideout at Bugani near Bayiri.

The suspect and his team of robbers had been operating at Donkoh village and its environs, while Suiri Adams was arrested after he and his colleague attacked a policeman and robbed him of his motorbike at Tampalapani.

The Regional Police Commander said on July 22, Iddrisu Imoro alias Jato, a Fulani Herdsman, who had been robbing citizens at Sombor was arrested from his hideout.

He said on August 8, the police received information that a suspected thief entered a house at Dobile section of Wa and allegedly stole a motorbike.

The suspect was arrested by a mob and subjected to severe beatings. The police rescued him and sent him to the Wa Government Hospital but he died three days later.

His body had been deposited at the hospital morgue awaiting autopsy.

DCP Mr. Duku appealed to people in the communities to refrain from the practice of instant justice, since it was against the law, and that, it could lead to the killing of innocent persons.

He encouraged the people to hand over such culprits to the police and not to take the law into their own hands, while they also volunteer information to the police and assist them in their investigations.

He said the courts at times use the slightest chance or technicality to discharge criminals and they come back to society more hardened.

The Regional Police Commander advised the people to end the “Tegyaabunyeni” (we are all one) maxim, because the same criminals would come back to rob them in different ways.

He pointed out that security of the public was a shared responsibility and therefore, all stakeholders are requested to get on board to fight crime in the region and reduce its incidents to the minimum

He appealed to the people in the communities to assist the police to arrest one Yahaya, who he described as the number one hardened criminal in the region, whose activities was a source of worry to all.

DCP Mr. Duku said the police would intensify its crime prevention education on the various radio stations in the communities to sensitise the public to be alert of such miscreants.