<<Print>>

FOR THE past four months, armed robbers have been terrorizing residents of Daban new site, Apramang and Atasomanso, all in the Ashanti region. The robberies were always said to have been perpetuated by two or three young men, armed with locally manufactured pistols as reported by their victims. According to the deputy Ashanti regional police commander, Osei Kwaku Ampofo Duku, in some instances, the robbers raped some of the female victims. On December 24, 2014 at about 9:00pm, two armed men attacked a Chinese national and robbed him of his Samsung mobile phone and cash of GH�3,000.00 and also took away his Toyota RAV 4 private vehicle. At a press briefing, the deputy Ashanti regional police commander said during the same night at around 10:00pm, a police patrol team intercepted the stolen vehicle at Buokrom Abease and arrested Kwaku Owusu, 22, who was then driving the said vehicle. The driver after noticing the police, fired at them and this generated exchanges of fire with the driver of the stolen vehicle and his accomplice, Apraku Adabor, a native of Nkasiem near Ahafo Goaso in the Brong Ahafo Region managing to escape. On January 8, 2015, at about 11:00 pm, the police intelligence led to the arrest of suspect Apraku Adabor, 24, at his hideout at Atwima, a suburb of Kumasi together with Opoku Williams, popularly known as Father Blessing when they were planning to go on another robbery spree. The police boss said a lady victim they attacked on her way home from work at about 9:00pm at Daban New site was robbed of her mobile phone and thereafter raped. Another woman was raped by the same suspected robbers after they managed to rob her of her mobile phone at her Atasomanso New site residence. The police named the car snatchers as follows; Kwadwo Poku, Eric Kofi Mensah and other two suspects who are on the run. The rest are Kwadwo Owusu and Osei Kwadwo Thomas alias Lion. During interrogation, it emerged that the suspect, William Opoku known in the car snatching business as Father Blessing has been receiving stolen vehicles from many parts of Ghana for sale in Kumasi. According to the police, upon further interrogation, he admitted to the offence and mentioned his brother-in-law, Kwadwo Owusu and Osei Kwadwo Thomas (the lion) as his accomplice.