Police arrest 11 alleged armed robbers

The Upper West Regional Police Command has arrested 11 people alleged to have engaged in a series of armed robberies in the three northern regions.

The robbers have been remanded in police custody and the police are appealing to victims of recent armed robberies to come forward and identify them and items that have been retrieved from them.

Briefing the media in Wa, the Upper West Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Kwadwo Otchere Boapea, said some of the robbers had been on the police wanted list for a long time and include Salifu Seidu, 24; Aminu Dauda, 28; Dauda Inusah, 37; Tofique Lawal, 45, and Mohammed Iddi, 30.

The rest are Salia Mohammed, 29 and Nabie Salifu, 27 (both Burkinabes) Dassah Abubakari, 21; Moshud Salim, 20, and Nurudeen Gafaru, 18.

Also arrested is a popular businessman in Wa, Joseph Bonseu 42, who receives goods stolen by the robbers.

Pet Vero Guest House

According to the police, items retrieved from the robbers included two single barrel guns, AA cartridges, a pump action gun, laptops, mobile phones, a pistol, motorbikes and cash.

The police said the robbers had engaged in series of robberies between August and September this year.

DCOP Boapea said in the early hours of August 15, four robbers attacked the Pet Vero Guest House in Wa. They robbed all the guests in the motel of their personal belongings and stole a pistol belonging to a Customs Officer stationed at Bole.

The Upper West Regional Police Commander said when Salifu Seidu’s room was searched upon a tip-off, two single barrel guns, a number of mobile phones and a remote controlled air conditioner were found in his room.

He said further investigations led to the arrest of Joseph Bonseu, who was found with the stolen pistol which was retrieved from him.

Again, on August 9, a group of traders who were returning from Leo in Burkina Faso were attacked on the Tumu highway by armed robbers and all their personal belongings, motorbikes and cash stolen from them.

DCOP Boapea said unfortunately for the robbers in this attack, they were met in the course of the robbery activity by a convoy of security personnel including the Deputy Upper West Regional Police Commander, DCOP Edward Oduro Kwarteng; the Upper West Regional Crime Officer, Chief Superintendent Alhaji Huseini Awinaba; the Member of Parliament for Sissala East, Mr Ridwan Abass, and the Tumu District Police Commander, Assistant Superintendent  of Police (ASP) Stephen Abanga, who were returning from a tour, leading to the arrest of two of the robbers at Nabulo.

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Caught on CCTV

On September 1, he said, three robbers: Abubakari, Gafaru and Salim, stole a motorbike parked behind the regional offices of the MTN at Wa, using a master key.

He said unfortunately for them, they were captured on a CCTV camera mounted on the MTN office.

The three were identified and arrested. A search conducted in their homes revealed the stolen motorbike which was hidden in Nurudeen’s room.

DCOP Boapea stated that “on September 7, a Benz bus carrying passengers from Wecheau to Kalba in the Northern Region was raided by robbers at the outskirt of Polyamayiri.

He said an intensive search mounted by the military and police led to the arrest of Seidu and Dauda in their hideout, where a motorbike and mobile phones belonging to one of the victims was identified.

The Upper West Regional Police Commander has assured the general public that the police were on high alert and ready to protect them.

He urged the public to be on the alert and notify the police immediately they felt threatened