3 Remanded over robbery, murder of taxi driver

An Accra Circuit Court has remanded into police custody a policeman and a trader who allegedly robbed and murdered a 40-year-old taxi driver.

Lance Corporal Bright Akosah and Ebenezer Tetteh, aka Blame, who appeared before the court yesterday, were charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit crime and one count each of murder and robbery.

The two pleaded not guilty to the charge of conspiracy to commit crime and robbery.

However, their plea in relation to the charge of murder is to be taken at their next appearance in the court of Ms Evelyn Asamoah.

A third accused person, Francis Aidoo, aka Keche, a tailor, was also remanded on charges of conspiracy to commit crime and robbery.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges, and all three are to re-appear on October 14, 2020.

Facts

Presenting the facts of the case, the Prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Fuseini Yakubu, said the victim, Samuel Tawiah, was a taxi driver who resided at Afiaman, near Pokuase in the Greater Accra Region, while Akosah was a policeman stationed at the Charley Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit at the Accra regional headquarters.

He said L/Cpl Akosah and Tetteh went to Agyen Kotoku and prepared a place for their intended act where Tetteh remained and laid ambush for the operation.

L/Cpl Akosah then went to Pokuase junction where he stopped a Nissan Versa taxicab with registration number GW 6818-20 and convinced the driver to drive him (L/Cpl Akosah) to visit his site at Agyen Kotoku.

Shooting

ASP Yakubu said the driver sensed danger when they got to the location, so he wanted to escape, but Akosah pulled out his pistol and shot him twice in the back.

Tetteh, according to the prosecutor, assisted Akosah to pull out the victim from the driver’s seat into the bush where the policeman shot the deceased for the third time in his left ear in the presence of Tetteh, adding that “L/Cpl Akosah and Tetteh abandoned the corpse in the bush”.

ASP Yakubu said Akosah quickly informed Aidoo that they had succeeded in robbing a taxicab.

The prosecutor added that after Akosah and Tetteh had taken possession of the car, they called Aidoo to search for avenues of selling the car.

Aidoo, according to ASP Yakubu, also contracted an interested party to look for a prospective buyer.

The prosecutor said Akosah and Tetteh drove the taxi to Biriwa, near Cape Coast in the Central Region, where they parked the vehicle in a bush in order to change their clothes.

On reaching Cape Coast, Aidoo called Akosah on phone to meet them at a location near the University of Cape Coast (UCC).

Police

ASP Yakubu said at about 8 a.m. on September 14, 2020, the anti-armed robbery unit of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) acted on intelligence that Aidoo, who resided in Cape Coast, was in possession of a Nissan Versa taxicab with registration number GW 6818-20 suspected to have been robbed from a driver and which he was offering for sale.

“The investigator feigned interest in purchasing the car and, therefore, negotiated the price with Aidoo at GH¢8,000,” ASP Yakubu told the court.

Aidoo asked to see the buyers after informing Akosah, who agreed to collect the amount.

Arrest

The prosecutor said Aidoo was immediately arrested and he mentioned Akosah as his accomplice.

ASP Yakubu said Aidoo led the police to Elmina where Akosah was arrested with the Nissan Versa taxicab and in possession of NP22 pistol, one magazine loaded with eight rounds of nine-millimetre ammunition, wraps of dried leaves suspected to be narcotic drugs, a lighter, one iPhone 7 plus, a mobile phone, a spanner, his police identification card, a voter ID card and a Visa card, all bearing the name Bright Akosah.

The prosecutor said Akosah admitted to the offence of robbery and mentioned Tetteh as his accomplice.

Tetteh was arrested in the morning of September 16, 2020 from his hideout around Awudome Cemetery, and also confessed that Akosah shot and killed the taxi driver as he struggled with them in the course of forcibly taking the vehicle from him.