Military and police uniforms found on robbery suspects
Armed robber in military uniform not a soldier, says Ghana Armed forces
The Ghana Police Service on Sunday, January 23, 2022, announced the arrest of five armed robbers for robbery in Tamale.
According to a brief update by the police on its Facebook page, the suspects snatched a Toyota Camry salon car from its owner at a residential area in Tamale and bolted.
The suspects were however pursued by the police and were arrested at Buipe in the Savannah region.
A police document on the incident shows the suspects were arrested with a weapon and some uniforms belonging to the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Police Service.
The items found on the suspects include 13 assorted mobile phones, one Falcon Foreign Pistol loaded with 9mm ammunition, a wallet containing a bunch of keys together with two handcuffs key, two Voter's ID Cards, Melcom card, Access Bank card and cash the sum of GHC21.20p.
“Some Military uniforms, Police Ballistic helmet and police uniforms were also found in the Toyota Camry Spider with registration number GX6923-20,” a situational report from the police said.
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The suspects, according to the police have been named as “Ibrahim Issah aged 27, Contractor/Accra 2. Mohammed Mustapha in military uniform, aged 23, Burma camp DI 3. Vivor Christopher aged 27 phones repairer 4. Benyamin Ajyei aged 23 mobile money vendor, Accra 5. Seyram Addo aged 29, Plumber, Danfa/ Madina.”
According to a report by UTV’s Alhassan Abdul Washid, the leader of the gang, Mohammed Mustapha who was wearing a military uniform accosted the victim Adam Abdul-Gafaru who was driving his car with a DV number plate in the Tamale township.
The suspect claiming to be a soldier allegedly seized the victim’s car and directed him to come by the military barracks for his car the next day.
Upon reporting to the barracks the next day, the victim was informed that his car had not been brought to the barracks as he was made to believe.
A report was immediately filed with the police and a tracker fixed in the car showed that the car was being moved out of the Savannah Region towards Accra.
A police alert was sent throughout the area and the Buipe highway patrol team on duty at Sawaba Police checkpoint on Buipe - Tamale highway, intercepted and arrested the suspects who were en route to Accra.
The suspects were said to be occupying two vehicles with registration numbers AS8445-19 and GX6923-20.
The victim is later said to have identified one of the vehicles as his own which was taken from him by one of the suspects in Tamale.
Meanwhile, the suspects on the instructions of the Northern Regional Police Commander, Mr. Timothy Bonga have together with the retrieved items been escorted to the Tamale Regional Police Headquarters for further action.
However, Ghana Armed Forces in a statement has clarified that the lead suspect who has been seen in viral videos of the arrest is not a soldier but an imposter.
In the statement signed by the Acting Director Public Relations Director of the Ghana Armed Forces, Andy La-Anyane, the institution said it is worried about the “rising spate of impersonation by civilians, either wearing military uniforms or posting of fake pictures of themselves as military officers to defraud unsuspecting Ghanaians.”
