Some of the suspects
Four accused persons standing trial in connection with the murder of Private Sherif Imoro, the soldier who was grusomely murdered at Taifa, a suburb of Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region have been discharged by the Ashaiman Circuit Court.
They were, however, re-arrested shortly after the court proceedings on Tuesday, by personnel of the Cold Case Unit set up under the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to assist in investigations.
The four were charged with dishonestly receiving stolen goods at the last sitting.
Unfortunately the sitting on Tuesday April 25, 2023 unlike previously was brief after the case was called when the prosecution, led by Superintendent of Police Sylvester Asare prayed the court to discharge all four accused persons, because of latest development which emanated from further investigations.
The court then discharged the four based on the prosecution’s request.
Shockingly, the four accused persons including the one granted bail earlier based on health grounds were quickly rounded up by police and whisked away.
Information gathered by DGN Online indicates that police intend to prefer fresh charges against them and if possible use some as witnesses in the case as they are forthcoming with vital information.
Six persons have been arrested in connection with the murder of the 21-year-old soldier, Imoro Sherrif, in Ashaiman on Saturday, March 4, 2023.
The arrests followed an intelligence-led, week-long police operation.
Those arrested separately at their various hideouts include two persons, Samuel Tetteh, alias Wiper, and Abubakar Sadick, alias Birdman who are believed to have stabbed the soldier during an attempt to rob him of his mobile phone and his backpack, with the four others suspected to have bought the stolen phone.
The four other accused persons, Yussif Mohammed, Abdul Gafaru Abdul Karim, Safianu Musah, alias Dayorgu, and Ibrahim Abdul Rakib were arrested at their various hideouts respectively on Thursday, March 9, 2023.
Private Imoro was found dead in a pool of blood at Taifa, Ashaiman, at dawn of Saturday, March 4, 2023.
In a statement, the police said they received information that a male adult had been found lying dead at Ashaiman Taifa and a team of policemen was dispatched to the scene where they confirmed the incident.
It said the police immediately commenced investigations into the circumstances surrounding the death of the victim.
As part of investigations, it said, the police cordoned off the crime scene and called in the crime scene team from the Headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to process the scene for forensic analysis.
At the scene, the statement said, the team retrieved a number of items, including a knife with bloodstains on it and a backpack containing a Samsung tablet, an Apple laptop, a military uniform with the name tag ‘Imoro’, eight other pieces of clothing, a Ghana Card and a health insurance card bearing the name Imoro Sheriff.
It said the police suspected that the victim could be a military person, and in line with police standard operating procedure for handling institution-based victims, the military was informed about the incident and some military men subsequently identified the deceased as Imoro Sherrif, a soldier.
The body of the victim was conveyed to a hospital for autopsy and preservation.
The police said an intelligence operation was immediately launched within Ashaiman and other strategic locations of interest to follow up on all relevant leads on the case.
After identifying the residence of the parents of the deceased, a team of police officers visited to commiserate with them, in line with Ghanaian tradition and as part of the investigation process, and assured the parents of thorough investigations into the matter.
The parents told the police investigators that the deceased was stationed in Sunyani but had come to Accra on a course.
The police said their investigations revealed that on March 3, 2023, Imoro had visited a female friend at Ashaiman Newtown about 10:30pm and left the place about 1:30am the following day, March 4, 2023.
The police said investigations established that suspects Tetteh and Sadick had, about 1:45am on March 4, attacked Private Imoro at Taifa Ashaiman in an attempt to rob him of his mobile phone and a backpack.
Private Imoro resisted and struggled with the suspects but was allegedly stabbed in the arm by Tetteh, who snatched the soldier’s phone, an iPhone 6, and bolted with it, leaving Imoro with the knife stuck in his arm.
Investigations also revealed that suspects Tetteh and Sadick had sold the iPhone which they had taken from the soldier to suspect Rakib, who later sold it to suspect Musah.
On March 8, 2023, a postmortem examination was performed on the victim’s body, after which the pathologist gave the cause of death as exsanguination — severe loss of blood — and laceration of major vessels of the left arm, consistent with stabbed injury, it added.
Private Imoro was laid to rest at the Military Cemetery, Burma Camp, in line with Islamic traditions.
Private Imoro grew up in Ashaiman but was stationed in Sunyani in the Bono Region.
He was attending a military course in Accra and sought permission from his commanders to go home and visit his parents in Ashaiman on Friday, March 3, 2023.
By Vincent Kubi