Five arrested in connection with attack on former Upper West Minister
At a press conference in Wa yesterday, the Upper West Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Kofi Danso Adei Acheampong, said Iddris was believed to be an informant to armed robbers, while the others were alleged to be armed robbers.
According to the commander, preliminary investigations had revealed that Fuseini, Munya, Amin and Sonde were all suspects on the wanted list of the security agencies in neighbouring Burkina Faso.
He catalogued a number of robberies which took place in certain parts of the region between September and December 2012 in which the suspects were believed to have played a part.
Flanked by his deputy, Assistant Commissioner of Police Mr K. Ampofo-Duku, and other senior officers, Mr Acheampong said two Chinese workers of China International Water and Electric Corporation who were fixing electricity poles and other accessories and their driver were attacked by armed robbers between Gbal and Fatchu in September 2012.
In the same month, a Metro Mass Transit bus from Kundugu in the Wa East District to Wa was attacked around Funsi, in the process of which the driver sustained a deep machete wound on his shoulder.
Similar robberies were said to have taken place on the Jefissi-Gwollu, Tumu-Kassana and Tumu-Navrongo roads before the attack on Alhaji Sulemana between Gbal and Kwala in the Sissala West District on December 21, 2012.
"In all of these robberies, the passengers and the victims were subjected to serious inhuman treatment and their valuables, including huge sums of money and mobile phones, were taken from them," the police commander said.
In some of the instances, he said, police patrol teams had a hint and managed to engage some of the robbers in shootouts, during which some of the robbers were killed.
On the robbery attack on the regional minister, Mr Acheampong singled out the bodyguard of the minister and commended him for his bravery.
"I have recommended that he be promoted for the sheer bravery he demonstrated during the attack," he said.
Mr Acheampong attributed the high incidence of robberies in the region to the easily accessible nature of the country's border with Burkina Faso, the free movement of Fulanis into the country and the connivance of criminals with some cattle owners and dealers in the region.
Story by Chris Nunoo
