Vodafone cable thieves granted bail

An Accra Circuit Court on Tuesday granted bail in the sum of GH?20,000.00 each to two persons who were said to have stolen underground telecom cables worth GH?34,392.00 belonging to Vodafone Ghana Limited.
Dennis Otto and Ibrahim Adjei Mensah were charged with conspiracy to commit crime, causing unlawful damage and stealing, but they pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

They were granted bail in the sum of GH?20,000.00 each with two sureties each who would have to deposit an amount of GH?10,000.00 each.

The case was adjourned to April 2.

Chief Superintendent of Police, Duuti Tuaruka presenting the facts of the case said the complainant Wisdom Kwesi Ndor is a Telecom Engineer of Vodafone Ghana Limited, whiles Dennis is a Trader and Ibrahim is a Kente Weaver.

He said for some time now, Vodafone Ghana officials have detected damages to some of their underground cables which had been cut and pulled out by thieves in some parts of the metropolis resulting in difficulties by some customers in accessing the network.

The prosecution said on March 16, at about 09:00 hours, a witness in the case chanced upon the accused persons carrying pieces of underground cables by the roadside near Gold House so he raised an alarm.

Chief Superintendent Tuaruka said the police at Kawukudi traffic light rushed to the scene and managed to arrest Dennis but Ibrahim managed to escape.

He told the court that when Dennis was questioned he denied ownership of the cables with the explanation that he was at the roadside to board a car to La, Accra.

He said at about 14:00 hours, Ibrahim came back to the scene of the crime and was immediately identified by some street hawkers who raised an alarm and he was apprehended and handed over to the police.

During investigations, Ibrahim admitted the offence in his caution statement and identified Dennis as his accomplice, saying it was Dennis who engaged him in the act.

According to the prosecution, the complainant had a hint of the case and came to the police station and identified the underground cables as the property of Vodafone Ghana worth GH?34,392.00.