Tema, June 23, GNA - A team of police personnel and members of the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) Taskforce have apprehended seven suspected land guards on a piece of land adjacent the Tema Animal Husbandry. One AK 47 assault rifle, two pump action short guns, 22 live ammunition for the assault rifle, and 17 pieces of AA cartridge retrieved from the suspects are in the custody of the Tema Police Command.

The suspects are 31-year-old Afro Mohamed a land guard, Mohamed Alhassan, 35 years, also a land guard, Amewuga Davordzi, 30-year-old mason and Abdul Rahman, a 32-year-old steel bender. The rest are Ibrahim Salley, 35-year-old steel bender, Mohamed Belo Ibrahim, a 28-year-old a footballer and 34-year-old Adu Doudu, a mason. Briefing the media, the Tema Regional Police Crime Officer, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Joshua Dogbeda, said on June 17, the team went to the land earmarked for the construction of an international hospital, upon a tip-off about forcible entry and trespassing.

ACP Dogbeda stated that the suspects insisted that they had been assigned by one Abdulai of Nungua to guard and work on the land when the team instructed them to leave. He indicated that during the argument with the suspects the team detected that Afro Mohamed was sitting on a fertilizer sack suspected to contain something unusual.

A search on the sack revealed the rifles while a wrapper containing some leaves and small quantities of seeds in a transparent sachet, suspected to be Indian hemp, was also found on him. The Crime Officer said when interrogated the suspects could not reveal the source of the weapons, stressing that investigations were underway and those found liable would be prosecuted. ACP Dogbeda further stated that efforts would be made to trace the source of the AK 47, as that type of weapon is only used by the State Security agencies. The pump action short guns are being screened to check if they had been licensed and who the owners were.