From left: Suspects Joe Ofori, Gariba, Shaibu and Emmanuel Atsu in police custody. INSET: Some of the Exhibits
The police in AYI MENSAH in the Greater Accra Region have apprehended a 55-year old retired soldier and two others for allegedly recruiting two others to engage in land guard activities in the area.
The suspect, Joe Ofori, was said to have engaged Emmanuel Atsu, a 55-year old retired Prisons officer and 53-year old unemployed Gariba Shaibu, and supplied them with United States military uniforms to guard a parcel of land.
A pump action gun, two truncheons, ten live BB cartridges and five empty cartridges were allegedly found on them in the course of the arrests.
In addition, a private car with registration number GW 6776-S and a bulldozer found at the scene were also impounded.
The Ayi Mensah Police claimed the suspects were there to demolish some houses in the area.
Briefing DAILY GUIDE, Superintendent Edward Tetteh, District Police Commander in charge of Abokobi, said the police received a distress call from residents around 10am on Thursday, February 14, 2019 that some landguards in military uniforms were harassing residents of the area. The police proceeded to the scene immediately.
He said when the patrol team arrived, they met a mob attacking two of the ‘soldiers’ while one was firing indiscriminately into the air in an attempt to scare the mob.
The three men were arrested and brought to the Ayi Mensah Police Station for interrogation.
Superintendent Tetteh revealed that upon interrogation, they realised that that Mr. Ofori was a retired military officer who organized Messrs Atsu and Shaibu, bought them military uniforms, drove them in the seized car to Abladjei to bulldoze three separate three-bedrooms self-contain houses.
“Their actions attracted the neighbors who tried to intervene but suspect Joe Ofori, who was wielding the pump action gun fired five times into the air. Suspects have been detained pending further investigations,” he added.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey