C/Inspector Emmanuel Ashilevi
Twenty-eight-year-old Kofi Seshie, the armed man who allegedly pulled his trigger and shot Inspector Emmanuel Ashilevi, the Ashongman Station Officer that was on duty at the Kwabenya Police Station in Accra, has finally been nabbed.
During the attack on the Kwabenya Police in the early hours of Sunday, January 21, 2018, seven inmates in cells were freed by the armed bandits.
Seshie, according to ACP David Eklu, Director General in-charge of the Public Affairs Unit of the Ghana Police Service, was arrested together with four others at Kasoa in the Central Region.
The rest are Sarba George, 23; George Asante, 33; Theophilus Banda, 25 and Elvis Owusu, 31.
This brings to 11 the number of suspects arrested in connection with the criminal act at Kwabenya.
Three of them – Attah Kwadwo, Prince Osei and Kofi Darko – are among the jail breakers.
Three others are accomplices who allegedly facilitated the attack leading to the freeing of the seven inmates.
The Inspector General of Police, David Asante-Apeatu, who briefed the media on the arrests last Thursday, mentioned their names as Nancy Bentaa aka Awura Ama, 28; George Yeboah aka Kwasi Shower and Kofi Acheampong aka Nana Owuo, a supposed spiritualist and weapon supplier.
Mr Asante-Apeatu said at Worawora in the Volta Region that police intelligence led to the arrests of suspects Attah Kwadwo and Prince Osei.
The IGP said two of the accomplices who aided the inmates to escape – Nancy Bentaa and George Yeboah – were also nabbed on Monday, January 22 and 24 respectively in Accra.
Kofi Acheampong, an alleged spiritual father of the suspects, who is also the purported supplier of weapons to the criminals, was arrested on Wednesday, January 24, at Afienya in the Greater Accra Region.
Cultic items such as coffin and skeletons were reportedly found at his place when a search was conducted by the police.
However, on Friday, the police in the Eastern Region assisted in the arrest of Kofi Dario at Begoro and on Saturday, January 27, 2018, the Accra Regional Police Command arrested Seshie, Asante, Sarba, Banda and Owusu at Kasoa.
Meanwhile, four of the jail breakers namely, Dickson Ofori, 24, who was on remand for robbery; Chibuzor Akwabu, 34, a Nigerian also on remand for robbery; Edem Rockson, 32, on remand for stealing and Emmanuel Kotey, 21, are still on the run.
A memorial service was held on the compound of the Kwabenya Police Station yesterday for slain Inspector Emmanuel Ashilevi by his colleagues and friends.
Background
It would be recalled that six armed men on Sunday, January 21, 2018 at about 1:30 am, raided the Kwabenya Police Station and shot Inspector Emmanuel Ashilevi in the process and freed seven cells inmates.
Police reports have indicated that a man suspected to be a Nigerian first reported at the station, saying he was going to lodge a complaint.
Suddenly, he left with an excuse that he was going to fetch something from his car.
Unknown to the police, the other accomplices had parked their motorbikes at the Kwabenya Roundabout area and were walking to the station.
Later, when the others had arrived, three of them marched to the charge office together with the first suspect to attack the counter NCO while the other three, fully armed, waited outside to ward off any intruder from entering.
Inspector Ashilevi had then arrived and had called the patrol team to come over to pick him to check on the men stationed at the various flash points.
Upon hearing the shouts coming from the charge office, Inspector Ashilevi, wearing a police pair of trousers and plain cloth, alighted from the vehicle and attempted to move to the charge office to save the situation.
The three other armed robbers immediately spotted him and marched him towards one of the offices.
While moving, one of them shot the inspector in the buttocks amidst sporadic shootings.
The armed robbers inside had then collected the keys to the cells and freed the inmates, who were about 14.
Seven of them took advantage to escape but the others refused to escape.
By LindaTenyah-Ayettey
(lindatenyah@gmail.com)