Pastor, 3 others arrested for alleged armed robbery

The police at Enchi in the Western Region shot dead a suspected armed robber and arrested three others after a gun battle at Agyeikrom, near Enchi, last Monday night.

The deceased was identified as Emmanuel Kantom, while those arrested were named as Augustine Kwame, 20; Kofi Abanga, 24, and Samuel Atongo, 22.

The police retrieved some cartridges from the pocket of the deceased.

 Also arrested was the Head Pastor and Founder of the Blessing of Christ Ministry at Gyasikrom, near Enchi , Pastor Isaac Twumasi, said to be the spiritual father of the gangsters.

Three others, identified as Andrews Boama, Joe Joe and Peter Adu, are at large

The seven suspected robbers had mistaken an unbranded police night patrol vehicle for one belonging to illegal Chinese miners who were conveying money to an illegal mining ( galamsey) site and attacked the vehicle with gunfire.

Attack

According to the police, on seeing the white pick-up, which was under the command of the District Police Commander, the robbers opened fire, with the hope that the occupants would abandon the vehicle with its contents and flee.

The police returned fire, which led to the death of Kantom, said to be the leader of the gang, while another member of the gang was injured.

The pastor, who was not among the seven robbers at the time of the attack, was said to be busy somewhere praying for the safety of the robbers.

According to the police, they were able to arrest two suspects, Augustine and Abanga, who led the police to the village where Atongo, who had sustained gunshot wounds, was being attended to by the pastor.

Cash and gold bars

The Enchi District Police Commander, Superintendent Raymond Kofi Erzuah, said following the ultimatum given by the government to illegal miners to stop their activities, the armed robbers planned to attack illegal mining sites, especially those operated by foreigners, to rob them of their money and gold.

During the night police patrol, he said, the seven, who had, over the years, been terrorising residents of the area, mistook the police pick-up for a vehicle conveying illegal Chinese miners and attacked the vehicle in a bid to rob the Chinese.

He said those arrested confessed that they had assumed the vehicle was one belonging to illegal Chinese miners who were returning from the bank with money to pay their workers.

Supt Erzuah said with the assistance of some Custom officers at Enchi and members of the neighbourhood watch committee, the police arrested the pastor who was busily attending to Atongo.

He said Pastor Twumasi told the police that Atongo had fallen from the top of a tree and that he (Atongo) was not part of those the police were looking for.

“After taking us to various areas in the village, Atongo burst into tears to confess that the pastor was one of them and their spiritual head and that he (the pastor) was attending to him (Atongo) after the exchange of gunfire with the police,” Supt Erzuah said.

The three at large

He said Atongo also mentioned the names of those at large as Boama, Joe Joe and Adu and led the police to their respective homes where the police managed to retrieve Andrew’s photograph.

The district commander said after a search in Pastor Twumasi’s church and the homes of the other suspects, 36 cartridges were found in the pastor’s room.

He stated that a second police patrol team that went to search the scene of the attack also found one pump-action gun loaded with five cartridges.

The body of the gang leader has since been deposited at the morgue, while the three suspects are assisting the police in their investigations.