The accused persons
The first of two persons who allegedly attacked a telecommunication shop at Awutu Beraku in the Central Region has appeared before an Accra Circuit Court.
The accused, Mohammed Salifu, 27, unemployed, is said to have conspired with one Johnson Weduwa, 47, also unemployed, to rob the company-Porsh Nysa Ventures of assorted recharge cards worth over GH¢6,800.
According to the prosecution, led by Detective Chief Inspector Ofori Amanfo, the accused stole a laptop, 606 pieces of assorted MTN credit cards valued at GH¢1,660; 979 Tigo credit cards worth GH¢1,997; 556 Vodafone recharge cards worth GH¢1,449 and 446 pieces of Airtel credit cards worth GH¢774 at gunpoint.
Appearing in court, presided over by Aboagye Tandoh, the accused, who was without a lawyer, denied the offence and was remanded into police custody until March 14.
D/C/Insp. Amanfo stated that Johnson was not in court because he was currently on admission at Winneba Trauma Hospital.
The judge was hopeful Johnson would be available at the next hearing.
The complainants- Portia Serwaa Afiriyie and Constance Saah, are staff of the company which sells telecommunication recharge cards.
The company also conducts mobile money transfers at Awutu Beraku, near Kasoa in the Central Region.
In the first week of February, this year, Mohammed, a resident of Kokrobite, started using his unregistered motorbike on commercial basis in Kasoa.
Johnson also lives in an unidentified guest house at Kasoa.
On February 20 at about 1pm, the two armed with an AK47 number DC 1585 H and 20 rounds of ammunition concealed in a big bag travelled from Kokrobite to Awutu Beraku with the aim of robbing the company.
The prosecution said the two travelled to Awutu Beraku on Mohammed’s unregistered motorbike, adding that “on arrival, they parked the motorbike in front of the complainant’s shop. Mohammed entered the shop ostensibly to transact business but quickly went back to fetch the weapon concealed in a bag and entered the shop to hold the complainant’s hostage.”
Johnson immediately followed up and the two stole the afore-stated items, among others and jumped on the motorbike to escape.
The complainants got out immediately and raised an alarm.
A mob chased the accused persons and arrested them.
Johnson, who sustained injuries, was saved by the police from the mob and sent to the hospital for treatment.
Nata in court
Meanwhile, the state prosecutors have also charged a 28-year-old construction labourer for conspiring to rob with two others, currently at large.
The accused, Gabriel Nata aka Sylvester on February 9 at Abokobi Zion, robbed two people of their Iphone 6S worth GH¢1,800 each.
Nata allegedly robbed one Dibie Marshal of her Infinix phone worth GH¢700.
The construction labourer is also facing an additional charge of unlawfully damaging a door belonging to one Imona Precious valued at GH¢200 and possession of arms without authority.
He, however, denied the offence but the trial judge admitted him to bail in the sum of GH¢75,000, with two sureties, all to be justified.
This was after his lawyer, Kofi Bonney had urged the court to grant bail to his client, who sustained injuries on the leg and arm.
By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson
jeffdegraft44@yahoo.com