An intelligence-led operation by the Police Intelligence Directorate (PID) foiled a robbery attempt by five armed men en route to rob a foreign national at Cantonments on July 15.
In a statement, the Police noted that they received credible intelligence that the five armed men were lodging at a hotel in Labadi.
While en route to the location in a Toyota Yaris vehicle, the suspects opened fire on a police team after detecting police surveillance. An officer got shot. A shootout ensued, and two of the suspects succumbed to gunshot wounds after being rushed to the Ghana Police Hospital.
The officer who sustained gunshot wounds to his arm and legs has been hospitalised and is responding to treatment, according to the Police. The Police retrieved from the scene two pump-action guns loaded with ammunition, live cartridges, three mobile phones, talismans, and other items.
Meanwhile, a manhunt is underway to arrest the remaining three suspects currently at large. This incident preceded a shootout between officers of the Tema Regional Police Command and a group of 10 suspected robbers during a robbery incident at the Tema Industrial Area that led to the demise of three suspects.
The incident occurred on July 21 when the police patrol team responded to a distress call and exchanged gunfire upon arrival at the scene during a confrontation with the suspects.
Three of the suspected robbers succumbed to gunshot wounds, but seven others, some of whom are believed to have been wounded, managed to evade arrest. The police are on a manhunt for these suspected robbers. The remains of the three suspected robbers have been deposited at the Police Hospital Morgue for identification, preservation, and autopsy.
Exhibits recovered from the scene include a Bruni mod foreign pistol, a double-barrelled locally manufactured pistol with 2 rounds of ammunition and 11 live BB ammunition. The Ghana Police Service has commended its officers at the Kpone District Command for their efforts in managing the robbery incident.
What the law says about robbery and stealing
Section 149 of the Criminal Offences states that a person who commits robbery commits a first-degree felony. Per Section 150, “a person who steals a thing commits robbery (a) if in, and for the purpose of stealing the thing, that person uses force or causes harm to any other person, or (b) if that person uses a threat or criminal assault or harm to any other person, with intent to prevent or overcome the resistance of the other person to the stealing of the thing.”
Section 124 of the Criminal Offences Act indicates that a person who steals commits a second-degree felony. Where the court that finds a person guilty of stealing is satisfied that on not less than two previous occasions the accused was found guilty of stealing, the court shall order that the whole or a part of a term of imprisonment imposed by it shall be spent in productive hard labour.
A person in respect of whom the court makes an order under subsection (2) is disqualified for election to Parliament or to a District Assembly within the meaning of the Local Government Act, 1993 (Act 462), for a period not exceeding five years.
Productive hard labour means labour in a state farm or state factory or any other public co-operative or collective enterprise specified by the Minister.
Police efforts in combatting robbery
In recent years, the Ghana Police Service has made some strides in curtailing the activities of robbers as well as seeing to the prosecution of those arrested during their line of work. The police this month managed to secure a conviction for an armed robbery incident that occurred in Atonsu Kuwait, Kumasi, four years ago.
The Kumasi Circuit Court sentenced two individuals to 15 years imprisonment for the violent armed robbery incident. The convicted persons are Abass Kasim (26) and Daniel Morro, a.k.a. “China” (25). They were part of a group of five that attacked a resident at his Atonsu Kuwait, Kumasi home on July 31, 2021, at about 2:30 am. The gang, wielding a pistol and cutlasses, shot the victim in the abdomen, inflicted multiple cutlass wounds, and robbed him of personal effects.
Items stolen during the attack included one iPhone 11 mobile phone valued at GHS 5,500, one Samsung phone valued at GHS 500, two Apple Watches valued at GHS 3,000, and two M.K. ladies’ handbags. An unspecified quantity of jewelry, $600, and an unspecified amount of Ghana cedis were also stolen. Following police investigations, Abass Kasim was arrested on August 12, 2021, and during interrogation, he admitted his involvement and subsequently led officers to the arrest of Daniel Morro, and a pistol used in the attack was later retrieved.
On Thursday, August 19, 2021, they were arraigned before Kumasi Circuit Court 4, where they were initially remanded into custody after pleading not guilty. The two reappeared in court on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, and were convicted and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on each count.
This included conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery, and unlawful entry. Abetment of crime and possession of firearms without authority. All sentences are to run concurrently. The convicts have since been transferred to the Central Prisons in Kumasi to begin serving their prison sentence. Meanwhile, the three accomplices are currently at large, and the police have intensified efforts to locate them.
The police reported another victory after an armed robber, Paul Avortide, was jailed for 19 years with hard labour for robbery. The 25-year-old convict, on May 21, at about 4:00 am, at Tsikpota near New Housing, Ho, with a machete in his hand, threatened a pregnant woman by the name of Ogechi Chidiebere, a Nigerian resident in Ho.
Paul Avortide robbed the victim of her Gh¢ 3,000 and her Tecno Spark 30c mobile phone valued at Gh¢2,500 when she was on her way to attend antenatal care at the Ho Municipal Hospital.
On June 19, at about 6:00 pm, the Regional Police Intelligence team arrested Harmony Nbonu at the Ho Main Market, who was in possession of the stolen phone. During interrogations, he mentioned Paul Avortide as the one who sold the phone to him at the cost of Gh¢ 850.00.
Coordinated efforts between the Police and the suspect, Hormony Nbonu, led to the arrest of the convict, Paul Avortide, at Matse, a suburb of Ho, when he was running away from Ho Township. After police investigations, Paul Avortide was charged with the offence of robbery contrary to Section 149 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), as amended by the Criminal Offences (Amendment) ACT, 2003 (ACT 646).
Harmony Nbonu, on the other hand, was charged with the offence of Dishonestly Receiving Contrary to Section 146 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29). The two were arraigned before Ho Circuit Court presided over by His Honour, Osman Abdul Hakeem, Esq., on Tuesday, July 1.
The first accused person (A1), Paul Avortide, pleaded guilty to the charge of robbery and was convicted on his own plea and sentenced to a prison term of 19 years in hard labor. The second accused person, (A2), Harmony Nbonu, was acquitted and discharged. The convict has since been handed over to the Ho Regional Prison authorities to begin to serve his prison term.
Meanwhile, three individuals believed to be involved in a robbery incident that occurred at Nyanikrom near Shama Junction on Wednesday, July 9, have been apprehended. The arrested suspects have been identified as Francis Mensah, alias Francis Kwaw (34); Ebenezer Cofie (32); and Samuel Bentum (35). The arrest was effected by the Western Regional Police Command following a targeted surveillance operation based on credible intelligence.
They received intel that the suspects, armed with insider information, were planning to rob officials of a company located at Nyanikrom. The intended target was company funds withdrawn from the bank for salary payments.
On the said date at about 12:00 p.m., staff of the company had withdrawn money from a bank in Takoradi. While returning to the company premises, they were ambushed near Unique School Junction at Nyanikrom by the suspects, who were on a motorbike and in an unregistered sedan vehicle.
The suspects forcibly broke the vehicle’s window and made away with the cash. Response by police personnel who had mounted surveillance in the area led to the arrest of three suspects and recovery of GHC 149,500.00.
The suspects are currently in police custody assisting with investigations. Additionally, a company driver identified as Maxwell Kofi Yeboah, who is alleged to have conspired with the suspects, is currently at large and being pursued by the police. “The Western Regional Police Command assures the public that efforts are ongoing to apprehend the remaining suspect and bring all perpetrators to justice,” the police said in a statement.
Despite the heroic efforts by the Police to reduce the number of robbery cases, several lives of officers who were on duty have been lost. Presently, the exact number of police officers who have lost their lives while responding to a robbery incident is unknown.
A police officer was killed by armed robbers in Kwame Peprakrom in the Central Region in September 2024 after being ambushed. The government has introduced a GHC50,000 insurance scheme for officers who lose their lives while on duty.
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