Anti-landguard operation: Police on manhunt for gun supplier

The police are on a manhunt for one of the persons believed to be key in the criminal activities in the Kasoa municipality and surrounding areas.

Isaac Boakye Yiadom, aka Kofy, is said to be the person supplying guns to other criminals who have been terrorising residents of the area.

An accomplice of Kofy, Emmanuel Aditey, was on November 24, 2017 remanded by the Kasoa-Ofaakor Circuit Court for the unlawful possession of arms and ammunition.

He mentioned Kofy as the person who supplied the guns.

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Operation

The Ghana Police Service, on November 17, 2017, launched special operations in the area to deal with the spate of robbery, murder cases and terrorising of land owners.

The exercise is restoring some sanity to the Kasoa municipality.

Since the special exercise started, 127 suspects have been arrested with 20 of them released after nothing incriminatory was found against them.

Out of the number, 76 of them are on remand, 19 granted bail while 12 other suspects were transferred to the Weija Police Division.

An area said to be a haven for the suspected criminals at Opeikuma has been destroyed by some residents after the police operations in the area.

Exhibits

The Director-General of Operations of the Ghana Police Service, Commissioner of Police (COP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that several exhibits such as narcotic drugs, arms, unregistered motorbikes and implements adapted to commit crime, had been retrieved from the suspects.

He said the team on the ground had adopted a number of measures to deal with the criminal activities in the area.

He explained that beyond the team from the headquarters, the police in the Central Region were also undertaking similar exercises in various parts of the region.

Dr Dampare called for more logistics to enable the police to deal with the menace.

Opeikuma

A resident at Opeikuma, Mr Kofi Agyare, told the Daily Graphic that angry youth of the area vandalised the offices of the land guards and also fell the tree under which they used to relax after their operations.

Some residents said they heard police siren at night more often than they did before the police operation, which they said gave them the assurance of security.

“These days, you often see two police barriers at night on our road, one before the junction to Columba and the other at Blue Kiosk, on the junction to the Municipal Assembly area,” a resident said.

However, some residents expressed fear that if the police failed to sustain the operation, the land guards might return with more venom.

Remand

Aditey is alleged to be part of a gang of criminals terrorising residents at Kasoa, Ofaakor, Jei River, Kwaobonbzai, Obom and other surrounding areas in the Awutu Senya District.

During his appearance at the court, Aditey’s plea was not taken, due to the absence of his legal representative.

The court, presided over by Mr Ebenezer Osei Darko, therefore, adjourned the case to December 7, 2017, to allow Aditey get a lawyer.

Per the facts as presented by the prosecution, police patrol got hint that Aditey and his gang were terrorising people at the above mentioned areas.

A police patrol team got wind of their activities, proceeded to Ofaakor and arrested Aditey, who was hiding in a room, after he heard about the patrol team.

According to the prosecution, the police conducted a search and they found a pistol loaded with five rounds of ammunition and three empty shells in the room.

“Aditey mentioned one Kofy as his employer who gave him the pistol and ammunition,’’ the prosecution added.

Gomoa

Meanwhile, Timothy Gobah reports that the Kasoa Divisional Police have apprehended nine suspects for unlawful possession of weapons.

The implements retrieved from them include one pump-action gun with six live ammunition, three expended shells of 9mm ammunition, one G3 magazine and three pairs of desert boots.

The rest are three pairs of black boots, one black jacket, one tape measure, one cutter, six machetes, six knives, five scissors, one pickaxe, a carpenter saw, one screw driver, three military camouflage uniform and one receipt book, labelled Gomoa Fetteh Asafo levy and some quantity of dried leaves suspected to be cannabis.

The suspects are Abusua Panin Kwao Abeka, Stephen Abeka, Isaac Quansah, Isaac Aful,  Sarfo Alfred and Mohammed Ibrahim.

The rest are Nyonyo Obed, Asamoah Daniel and Adam Suraiya were arrested at the palace of the Chief of Gomoa Fetteh, and the weapons retrieved from them.