Police nabbed nine in swoop

Pages 16/17: Daily Graphic, April 20, 2010.
Story: Albert K. Salia
NINE suspected criminals have been rounded up in two separate operations by the Accra Regional Police.
Five of the suspects were arrested hours after they had attacked a guest house at Nyanyano, near Kasoa last Sunday night, during which all the stolen items were retrieved.
They are Sunday Eze, 40, Kelvin Asabre, 32, Kofi Adamba, 31, Samuel Cudjoe, 30, and Mohammed Saani, 30.
Interestingly, Eze, Asabre and Adamba were all granted bail by an Accra High Court in February, this year for robbery. Asabre, until his release, had been on remand for eight years for robbery.
In the second operation, four others — Ibrahim Seidu, 45; Kofi Nyarko, alias Michael, 24; Adams Ibrahim, 19, and Jones Kumah, alias Alan Cash — were arrested in Accra and Kumasi for their alleged involvement in the snatching of cars.
Six of the snatched cars including a RAV 4 have all been retrieved by the police.
At a news conference in Accra yesterday, the Accra Regional Police Commander, DCOP Rose Bio Atinga, and her deputy, ACP Christian Tetteh Yohuno, said the police received a distressed call at about 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 18, 2010 that some suspected robbers had attacked a guest house at Nyanyano.
She said the swift response by the police to the scene led to the arrest of Sunday Eze while fleeing the scene of the robbery.
According to her, Eze led the police to arrest Asabre from whom the police retrieved $900, £190 and GH¢770 at North Industrial Area.
DCOP Atinga said Kelvin also led the police to arrest Saani, Adamba and Cudjoe, from whom 20 Ghanaian passports, 11 wristwatches and 12 mobile phones were recovered from their hideout.
She said checks at the registry of the police indicated that Kelvin, who was arrested in connection with robbery, was granted bail by an Accra High Court on February 10, this year while Asabre, who had been on remand for eight years, as well as Eze, who was also arrested in connection with robbery, were both granted bail by an Accra High Court in February this year.
As to why Asabre was on remand for eight years, DCOP Atinga said there could be a multiplicity of factors including long adjournments due to unavailability of prosecution witnesses.
With regard to the car snatching incidents, ACP Yohuno said at about 11:30 p.m. on April 4, 2010, Kofi Nyarko and Adam Ibrahim chartered a taxi at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle to Abeka La Paz.
He said on the way, the two attempted to strangle the driver, but another taxi driver who was driving behind them saw the incident and shouted for help.
ACP Yohuno said some neighbours came out of their houses to help apprehend the suspects.
According to him, when Nyarko and Ibrahim were sent to the police, they allegedly confessed to snatching four cars and sending them to one Jones Kumah in Kumasi for re-spraying and re-numbering for sale.
ACP Yohuno said the two men also confessed that a taxi they were taking to Kumasi was abandoned at Bunso after it developed a fault and indicated that the car was later retrieved from Suhum.
He said with the help of the Ashanti Regional Police Command, Kumah was arrested on April 14, 2010 and four cars retrieved from him.
He said Ibrahim Seidu was arrested at Adenta Housing Down at about 10:30 p.m. on March 29, 2010, barely two hours after the police had received a distress call that a Toyota RAV 4 had been seized from its owner at the Hydraform Estates.