<<Print>>

The Tema Regional Police Command has arrested a 23-year-old unemployed resident of Ashaiman, Sarakatu Muniru, believed to be the number two man in charge of training several youth of the area to become armed robbers. Children between the ages of 13 and 15 were allegedly recruited and trained to attack and rob people of their belongings, mostly mobile phones and money. The schools were located at the Spider toilet and the Government School toilet, both in Ashaiman. Disclosing this to Daily Guide yesterday, ACP Augustine Gyening, the Regional Commander, said the arrest of Muniru was a great scoop for the security agencies in the area, as the suspect and his gang had been terrorizing people within Ashaiman, Tema and their environs. He revealed that the 22 teenaged armed robbers who attacked residents of Gorm near Ada a few weeks ago during the Asafotufiam festival and were arrested, were students of Muniru and his boss, Ali, who is at large. �If we are able to arrest Ali, the kingpin of this dangerous group who have constantly terrorized residents in that area, then the crime rate would certainly go down,� the commander said. He described Ali as an ex-convict who was recently granted pardon. He mentioned that Ali was convicted for murder and appealed to residents and persons who knew his whereabouts to report to the police so he could be arrested. Narrating how Muniru was arrested, ACP Gyening said the suspect was a wanted person following his involvement in several reported criminal cases within the two areas and was elusive until he was spotted by a police patrol team around Zeenu, a suburb of Ashaiman. He tried to flee but was quickly nabbed by the Police. The commander stated that when the suspect was arrested, persons believed to be his accomplices rushed to his residence, broke the door to his room and made away with weapons the police believed were used in their robbery activities and which were hidden in the ceiling of the room, before the police arrived at the suspect�s home. The suspect and his cronies were reported to have threatened to kill a policeman of the area and also tried kidnapping a man they claimed was giving out information about their activities to the police. The group seized the said man and were forcing him into a waiting vehicle when some Muslim leaders who witnessed the incident pleaded with them to spare him, an action ACP Gyening believed could have resulted in the death of their victim. �You see, these guys are so powerful and well-organized so much that residents are scared to report their activities to the police for fear of being attacked,� the commander stated. Touching on the armed robbery school, the commander explained that contrary to the perception held by the public, there was no physical structure that served as a school but rather the group usually met at certain locations in Ashaiman where new recruits were taught the basics about robbery. He mentioned the Spider toilet and the Government School toilet, both in Ashaiman, as two of the locations the suspected criminals met to plan their robbery activities. He identified the two locations as very dangerous and added that they were not safe for residents� use, especially at dawn and in the evening. He mentioned that his outfit�s investigations revealed that there were several of such places around the area and that steps were being taken to rid those areas of criminals so as to make residents go about their day-to-day activities without fear of being attacked. ACP Gyening observed that his outfit had received several complaints about robbery cases within the two areas and investigations showed that the suspect and his boss, Ali, were persons behind most of these reported cases. He disclosed that further investigations into the alleged cases involving the suspect and his boss indicated that they worked with a lot of teenagers in that area who were believed to be their trainees. ACP Gyening noted that the suspect, who knew he was on the Police wanted list all these while, managed to avoid the security agencies and yet continued to attack residents with several of his boys. He warned that failure on the part of the general public to complement the efforts of the police would soon derail the peaceful coexistent of residents in Ashaiman and its environs, adding that the fight against crime should be seen by all as a shared responsibility, promising that identities of informants would be protected.