The Police in the Ashanti Region are holding three students of Opoku Ware School (OWASS) for robbery.
The three students – Akwasi Adu Donkor, Raphael Owusu Appiah, and Kwadwo Osei Asubonteng – were arrested by the Kumasi Central police for attacking a taxi driver and snatching his taxi at gunpoint on Thursday, August 11.
School authorities were informed by the police Friday dawn and it was confirmed that the suspects were indeed students of Opoku Ware School.
The School statement said “It is on record that the three suspects had been withdrawn from the boarding house,” the school said in a statement on Tuesday, August 16.
According to the School “Akwasi Adu Donkor and Asubonteng Osei Kwadwo have withdrawn from the boarding house on the same day for the following offenses: Breaking bounds at night, wearing unprescribed attire in the school, and Fighting in the school.”
The statement signed by the Secretary to the School’s Disciplinary Committee, Bismark Agyemang Duah, cited several infractions by these students.
The two are said to be habitual absentees, assault fellow students and steal on countless occasions.
“Owusu Appiah Raphael was also withdrawn from the boarding house for stealing on countless occasions from his colleagues at the dormitory. After this incident, he and the other four students appeared before D.C. for wrongful entry into someone’s house at TUC. He has also been hiding in the dormitory despite his withdrawal from the boarding house.”
“Their parents have been invited to the school on several occasions to discuss the behavior of their wards with them,” the school noted.
“It is sad to report that the father of Raphael Owusu Appiah insulted the then Assistant Headmaster, Akwasi Oduro Boateng, and nearly fought him. He claimed the Assistant headmaster hated his son and wanted him to be withdrawn from the school.”
According to the statement, authorities were sad that these boys did not take heed to all the advice given to them.
“We would like to state emphatically that the boys are our students but at the time the incident occurred, they had closed from school and were supposed to be in the custody of their parents.”
Below is the full statement:
REPORT OF A ROBBERY INCIDENT INVOLVING THREE STUDENTS OF OPOKU WARE SCHOOL
On Friday, 12th August 2022, around 4 am, the school chaplain and counselor, Rev. Fr. Addo Fordwour received a call from the Kumasi Central Police Station informing him of an alleged robbery incident involving three students of Opoku Ware School.
The report had it that two boys who claimed to be students of OWASS had been brought to their custody for allegedly snatching a taxi cap at gunpoint.
After the headmaster was informed, a delegation, comprising the Assistant headmaster (Administration), Assistant headmaster (Domestic), the school chaplain and counselor, and the senior housemaster and his deputy were sent to the police station to identify whether or not the boys were students of OWASS.
When the boys were brought for identification, it came out that they were indeed students of OWASS.
They were Akwasi Adu Donkor (BY 2), and Owusu Appiah Raphael (BY 664). The third suspect who had absconded was identified as Asubonteng Osei Kwadwo (BY 76).
It is on record that the three suspects had been withdrawn from the boarding house. Akwasi Adu Donkor and Asubonteng Osei Kwadwo were withdrawn from the boarding house on the same day for the following offenses:
Breaking bounds at night
Wearing unprescribed attire in the school
Fighting in the school
After this, both students have been habitual absentees and Adu Donkor was reported to the headmaster by his English teacher, Mr. Agyemang Duah Bismark. His parents were subsequently called to bring the boy to school and he was warned to desist from such acts.
Asubonteng Osei Kwadwo on the other hand was brought to the Disciplinary Committee again for assaulting a fellow student and he was punished for that.
Owusu Appiah Raphael was also withdrawn from the boarding house for stealing on countless occasions from his colleagues at the dormitory. After this incident, he and the other four students appeared before D.C. for wrongful entry into someone’s house at TUC. He has also been hiding in the dormitory despite his withdrawal from the boarding house.
The day before his arrest, he was brought to D.C. for stealing tins of sardines at the dining hall and causing mayhem during supper time even though he was a day student and did not have the right to eat supper at the school.
Every attempt by the school authority to reform these boys has proved futile. Their parents have been invited to the school on several occasions to discuss the behavior of their wards with them.
It is sad to report that the father of Raphael Owusu Appiah insulted the then Assistant headmaster, Mr. Akwasi Oduro Boateng, and nearly fought him. He claimed the Assistant headmaster hated his son and wanted him to be withdrawn from the school.
The school authorities were, therefore, sad that these boys did not take heed to the advice given to them.
We would like to state emphatically that the boys are our students but at the time the incident occurred, they had closed from school and were supposed to be in the custody of their parents.
REPORT BY:
MR. AGYEMANG DUAH BISMARK
(SECRETARY, DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE)
PARENTS ALWAYS FIND WAYS AND MEANS TO PROTECT THEIR WAYWARD KIDS.
-BY Daniel Bampoe