Ashaiman soldier killing: 6 Accused persons remanded in police custody

The six accused persons in connection with the killing of the 21-year-old soldier, Private Imoro Sherrif, in Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region have been remanded in police custody,

The six were arrested between March 9th and 12th at different locations.

They were arraigned at the Ashaiman Circuit Court presided over by Simon Gaga on Monday morning (Mar 13), reports Benjamin Xornam Glover.

According to the prosecution, two of the accused persons robbed the soldier and in the process, one of them stabbed him in the arm.

The other four are said to have bought a stolen mobile phone taken from the deceased soldier.

In court Monday morning, Abdul Fatawu Alhassan, the defence counsel for the four accused persons said to have bought the stolen phone prayed the court to grant the four bail as they were not part of the robbery nor the alleged killing.

The prosecution opposed the bail application and said the accused persons have no permanent place of abode.

The court remanded the four accused persons together with the two other accused persons said to have been involved in the robbery in police custody.

They are to re-appear on March 27, 2023.

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The accused persons are Safianu Musah alias Dayorgu and Ibrahim Abdul Rakib.

They were arrested at their hideouts in Ashaiman on March 9, 2023.

Two other accused persons are Samuel Tetteh alias Wiper and Abubakar Sadick alias Birdman. They were also arrested at their hideouts on March 10, 2023.

Two additional accused persons, Yussif Mohammed and Abdul Gafaru Abdul Karim were arrested on March 11 and March 12,  2023, respectively.

Attached below is a briefing by the police on the arrest of the six suspects

GHANA POLICE SERVICE STATEMENT ON THE MURDER OF A SOLDIER, IMORO SHERRIF

1. The Ghana Police Service, after a week of sustained intelligence-led operation, has arrested six persons at different dates and various locations within Ashaiman and its environs for their suspected involvement in the murder of Imoro Sherrif, a soldier.

2. On 4th March 2023, Police received information that a male adult had been found lying dead at Ashaiman Taifa in the Greater Accra Region.

3. A team of Police officers proceeded to the said location and confirmed the incident.

4. Police immediately commenced investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the victim. The officers cordoned off the scene and called in the specialist Police Crime Scene team to process the scene for forensic analysis.

5. The Crime Scene team retrieved a number of items, including a knife with blood stains on it and a backpack. In the backpack, Police found one (1) Samsung tablet, one (1) Apple laptop, one (1) military uniform with the name tag "Imoro," eight (8) other items of clothing, as well as a Ghana card and a Health Insurance card bearing the name Imoro Sherrif.

6. Judging from the contents of the backpack, the Police suspected the victim could be a soldier, and in line with Police standard operating procedure for handling institution-based victims, the Military was accordingly notified of the incident and some military personnel came to identify the deceased to Police as Imoro Sheriff, a soldier.

7. The body of the deceased was thereafter conveyed to a hospital for preservation and autopsy.

8. As part of the investigation, an intelligence operation was immediately launched within Ashaiman and other strategic locations of interest to follow up on all relevant leads on the case.

9. On the same day, consistent with Ghanaian tradition and as part of the investigation process, a team of Police officers, after identifying the residence of the parents of the deceased, visited them, commiserated with them and assured them of a thorough investigation into the matter.

10. During the visit, the parents informed the Police that the deceased was stationed at
Sunvani but had come to Accra on a course.

11. Investigations further revealed that on 3rd March 2023, the deceased had visited a female friend at Ashaiman Newtown at about 10:30 pm and left the place in the middle of the night at about 01:30 am, on the 4th March 2023.

12. After almost a week of painstaking intelligence-led operations, on 9th March 2023, the Police arrested suspects Safianu Musah alias Dayorgu and Ibrahim Abdul Rakib at their hideouts in Ashaiman. Two other suspects, Samuel Tetteh alias Wiper and Abubakar Sadick alias Birdman were also arrested at their hideouts on 10th March 2023. Two additional suspects, Yussif Mohammed and Abdul Gafaru Abdul Karim were arrested on 11th and 12th March 2023, respectively.

13. Further investigation has established that suspects Samuel Tetteh and Abubakar Sadick at about 1:45 am on 4th March 2023, attacked the deceased at Taifa Ashaiman in an attempt to rob him of his phone and a backpack. The deceased, however, resisted and struggled with the suspects. During the struggle, suspect Samuel Tetteh pulled out a knife and stabbed the deceased in the arm, snatched his phone and bolted leaving the deceased with the knife stuck in his arm.

14. A postmortem examination was performed on the deceased's body on 8th March 2023, after which the pathologist gave the verbal cause of death as exsanguination and laceration of major vessels of the left arm consistent with the stabbed injury.

15. Investigations also revealed that suspects Samuel Tetteh and Abubakar Sadick sold the phone which they had robbed from the deceased to suspect Ibrahim Abdul Rakib who later sold it to suspect Safianu Musah. Suspect Safianu Mush is being evasive as to the whereabouts of the phone and claims to have sold it to suspect Yussif Mohammed and later to suspect Abdul Gafaru Abdul Karim. Both suspects have been arrested and are assisting the investigation to recover the phone.

16. On 12th March 2023, a team of Police officers led by the Tema Regional Police Commander visited the family of the deceased and briefed them on the investigations done so far.

17. We wish to commend all Police officers at all levels of Command, especially the crack Police intelligence and investigation teams as well as the Ashaiman District Police Command for their professionalism and meticulous dedication, working around the clock to unravel this case.

18. We would like to assure the public, especially the family of the deceased, that all the suspects are in Police custody and will be put before the court on Monday, 13th March 2023, to face justice.