Two robbery suspects, Lukeman Mohammed alias Alfa and Awudu Osman alias Awudu Ninja, have been killed during police immobilization action at Sepe, a suburb of Kumasi, when they reportedly attempted to escape from lawful custody.
The two suspects, who were said to be in handcuffs, had allegedly jumped from the top floor of a storey building in a bid to escape from police detectives who were escorting them to search for a hidden pistol.
ASP Juliana Obeng, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ashanti Regional Police Command, who made this known at a media briefing in Kumasi yesterday, said the suspects were among a robbery syndicate which include Emmanuel Fosu, Farouk Amadu and Saliu Yakubu – all in police custody.
According to her, the incident happened on November 7, 2017 at Sepe, where the two suspects had led the police to retrieve a pistol used in one of their alleged robbery operations.
The police spokesperson stated that where the fatal incident occurred was the fourth hideout the suspects had taken the police to without any trace of the said weapon.
ASP Obeng disclosed that while Awudu Osman died on the spot, his counterpart, Lukeman Mohammed alias Alfa, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).
Bodies of the suspects have since been deposited at the same hospital, the police chief added, saying that Emmanuel Fosu, 27; Farouk Amadu, 25 and Saliu Yakubu, 28, were in police custody assisting with investigations.
The trio, she narrated, had earlier been arrested in a police intelligence-led operation at their hideout at Dichemso, a Kumasi suburb, for their involvement in various armed robberies in the Ashanti Region.
According to the PRO, the suspects – members of an armed robbery syndicate– as part of their modus operandi, used an Opel taxi to pick unsuspecting female passengers and rob them at gunpoint.
She asserted that the suspects usually subjected their victims to severe beatings, removed their dresses and tied or blindfolded them before dispossessing them of their valuables, including monies and mobile phones.
ASP Obeng said the robbers sometimes raped their victims before they abandon them at obscure places or nearby bushes.
She said that Farouk Amadu aka Burger told the police that he was involved in the robbery operation that led to the death of a 58-year-old woman, Cecilia Boakye Fordjour, who was among female passengers picked by the gang at Kejetia about two weeks ago.
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