Bomb Suspects
Three men, who were arrested at Kwashieman, Accra in possession of hand grenades, were yesterday arraigned before an Accra Central District Court.
Ismaila Ali Musah, 31; Abdul Karim Yakubu, 30 and Osman Hassan, 33, were arrested by the Odorkor Police when they picked intelligence that the three suspects were in possession of the explosives.
They were charged with unlawfully possessing explosives, and their pleas were not taken as the police said the case is still under investigation.
The court, presided over by Ebenezer Kweku Ansah, remanded them into police custody to reappear on January 30, 2018.
The prosecution, led by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Frederick Agyei, told the court that the Odorkor Police on January 15, at about 10:30 am, received information that the three suspects were in possession of explosives.
He said the police proceeded to a house behind Kata Hostel at Kwashieman; and on reaching there, Abdul Karim Yakubu was arrested with seven hand grenades.
ACP Agyei told the court that upon interrogations, Yakubu mentioned Ismaila Ali Musah and Osman Alassan as those who sold the grenade to him.
He said Yakubu then led the police to arrest the other accused persons.
He said looking at the nature of the explosives, there is the need for the police to conduct further investigations to establish how the accused came by them and also establish what they intended to use them for.
He said the police also needed to establish whether there are any other persons involved.
Although the prosecutor told the court that the three were unemployed, Ismaila Musah said he is an Arabic teacher in Libya while Yakubu maintained that he is a fuel station attendant at the Adenta Goil filling station, Accra, and Osman Alassan said he sells onions.
Arrest
Initial report suggested that the three persons, including a self-confessed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) member, had been arrested by the police in a swoop in Accra.
The ISIS member was named by the police as Ishmael Ali Musa, 31, and Abdul Karim, 30, believed to be a notorious land guard and suspected armed robber, as well as Osman Hassan, 33, from Mali.
Police personnel from the Odokor Divisional Command, upon a tip-off, swooped on Abdul Karim at Agape Down, near Ablekuma, where they retrieved seven varied species believed to be hand grenades.
Information gathered indicated that the suspects, who had been working together for the past year, imported 20 of the grenades from Libya and were said to be selling them.
According to police sources, they reportedly imported other weapons like AK 47 rifles, side arm pistols and some quantities of ammunition in addition.
By Gibril Abdul Razak