The suspects
Five members of the so-called Western Togoland separatist group who ‘raided’ two police stations in the Volta Region and made away with guns have been remanded by an Accra Circuit Court.
The five are said to be among a group of about 20 people who stormed the Aveyime and Mepe police stations in the Volta Region on September 25 overpowered the officers on duty and stole 10 AK47 assault rifles and a police patrol vehicle.
The accused and the others, according to court documents, also vandalized properties of the police stations, including a private vehicle, computers and office furniture, worth about GH¢50,000.
The activities of the accused persons and their accomplices brought the area and its environs to a standstill as they sporadically shot into the air as they left the police station in the police patrol vehicle.
Ebenezer Nyalatasi, Stephen Kpehor, Abednego Edo Dotse, Kpexor Besa and Cephas Zodanu were yesterday dragged before the court charged with their involvement in the attack on the two police stations.
They are facing six counts of conspiracy, stealing, causing unlawful damage and participating in a meeting organized by a prohibited group.
Their pleas were not taken as the prosecution, led by ASP Fuseini Yakubu, told the court that the police were still investigating the matter.
Their lawyer, Theophilus Donkor, tried to secure bail for them but was unsuccessful and the court, presided over by Ellen Ofei Aryeh, remanded them to reappear on October 21.
The brief facts presented by ASP Yakubu stated that the accused persons are residents and natives of Mafi Jasikan in the Volta Region.
He said on September 25, 2020, the accused persons, together with others, who are currently on the run and numbering about 20, armed with offensive weapons, such as guns and machetes, besieged the Aveyime and Mepe police stations in the Volta Region.
He told the court that the accused persons and the others attacked the charge offices of these stations, overpowered the few personnel on duty and vandalized properties of the stations, including a private vehicle, computers and office furniture worth about GH¢50,000.
ASP Yakubu further stated that the accused persons broke into the armouries of the said police stations and stole 10 AK47 assault rifles and a police patrol vehicle.
“The accused persons and their accomplices fled from the scene on board the police patrol vehicle amidst firing into the air to ward off members of the community. Accused persons and their accomplices later abandoned the vehicle in a secluded area and went into hiding,” the court heard.
The prosecutor told the court that the accused were arrested on October 5 from their hideout upon police intelligence.
He said one AK47 assault rifle belonging to the police and two locally manufactured guns were retrieved from the accused persons and efforts were ongoing to arrest the others.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak