Court remands 6 over death of soldier

All the six suspects arrested by the police in connection with the killing of a soldier in Ashaiman have been remanded in police custody.

An Ashaiman Circuit Court, presided over by Simon Gaga, remanded the six persons yesterday, March 13, 2023.

They are Samuel Tetteh, alias Wiper, 20, unemployed, and Abubakar Sedick, alias Birdman Naadu, 20, a scrap dealer, both charged with robbery and stealing; Ibrahim Abdul Rakib, Safianu Musah, alias Dayorgu, Yusif Mohammed and Abdul Gafaru Abdul Karim, all charged with dishonestly receiving.

They all pleaded not guilty to the respective charges and will make their next appearance on March 27, 2023.

Prosecution

Brief facts, as presented by Superintendent Sylvester Asare, the Director of Legal at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Police Headquarters, were that the accused persons are residents of Ashaiman, while the deceased, Sheriff Imoro, was a soldier.

He said on March 4, 2023, the police received information that a male adult had been found lying dead at Ashaiman Taifa in the Greater Accra Region.

Upon receipt of the information, Supt Asare said, a team of policemen proceeded to the said location and confirmed the incident, adding that the police team retrieved a number of items from the crime scene, including a knife with bloodstains on it and a backpack.

The CID Director of Legal further said in the backpack, the police found a Samsung tablet, an Apple laptop, a military uniform with the name tag ‘Imoro’, eight other items of clothing, as well as a Ghana Card and a health insurance card bearing the name Imoro Sheriff.

He said the body of the deceased was thereafter conveyed to a hospital for autopsy and preservation.

Investigations, arrest

According to the prosecution, the police immediately commenced investigations into the circumstances surrounding the death of the deceased, leading to the arrest of the accused persons from their hideouts in Ashaiman on March 10, 2023.

He said investigations established that the deceased was stationed at the Third Infantry Battalion, Sunyani, adding that further investigations revealed that on March 3, 2023, he had visited a female friend at Ashaiman Newtown about 10:30 p.m. and left the place about 1:30 a.m. the following day.

He said police investigations further had it that about 1:45 a.m. that day, the accused persons attacked Imoro, now deceased, at Ashaiman Taifa, and with the intention of stealing his mobile phone, stabbed him to overcome his resistance and overpower him.

He said Tetteh and Sadick successfully robbed the deceased of his mobile phone and sold same to Rakib at GH¢300.

Supt Asare said Rakib subsequently sold the phone to Musah for GH¢350.

He further said Safianu, when contacted, tried to be evasive on the whereabouts of the phone and claimed to have sold it to Mohammed for GH¢500 and later to Karim.

He said police investigations were ongoing and prayed the court to remand the suspects in police custody.

Bail application

The lawyer for Rakib, Musah, Mohammed and Karim, Abdul Fatawu Alhassan, in pleading for bail, said his clients knew nothing about the said robbery, and that they all had men of substance who were ready to stand surety should they be granted bail.

He indicated that all his clients had fixed places of abode which were known to the investigator, adding that they were not a flight risk.

Mr Alhassan said should they be granted bail, his clients would not impede the trial, stressing that they would always be available to support the prosecution to expedite the trial.

He maintained that in the specific case of Mohammed, it was Musah who mentioned Mohammed as the person he might have sold the phone to, based on which  Mohammed was picked up by the police for investigations.

He added that when Mohammed was introduced to Musah, the latter indicated that it was not Mohammed who had stolen the phone.

"Clearly, Mohammed was wrongly picked up and has no connection to the robbery," he said, while praying for the court to grant his clients bail.

Objection

However, the prosecution objected to the bail, saying the accused persons, when granted bail, would not appear to stand trial.

Supt Asare said the accused persons were a flight risk, stressing that although they were within the jurisdiction of the court, they did not have permanent places of abode, in accordance with the law.

Ruling

The Presiding judge, in his ruling, said having listened to the bail application, he realised that counsel failed to  provide a specific place of abode for the third, fourth, fifth and sixth accused persons, adding that considering the severity of the offence, he had to remand them in police custody for investigations to continue.

He thus adjourned the case to March 27, 2023.

Writer’s email: Benjamin.glover@graphic.com.gh