Two persons believed to be part of a motorbike robbery syndicate in and around the Akatsi South Municipality of the Volta Region have been remanded into police custody.
The two, Kojo Gakpo, age 18, and Raphael Lotse, age 19 pleaded not guilty to the charges of conspiracy and robbery.
They are to reappear before the Sogakofe Circuit Court on Thursday, February 10 2022 after they were arraigned last week.
Narrating the details of the case in court, the police prosecutor noted that the two suspects were arrested in connection with the robbery of a motorbike at Kpevi near Akatsi.
The Prosecutor said on Sunday, January 23, 2022, the accused persons who were in the company of a third accomplice (at large) narrowly escaped death from a mob attack after a failed robbery operation.
The mob made up of community members and some commercial moto riders had arrested them at Kpevi, a village near Akatsi before handing them over to the police.
The two together with the third accomplice attacked and robbed a commercial motor rider of his Sanya motorbike at Kpevi.
On the day of the attack, one of the suspects hired the services of a commercial motor rider at Akatsi while two others laid ambush.
On reaching a planned location, the passenger attempted to strangle the rider with a rope. The rider was disabled upon the attack. The two other accomplices emerged from the bush on another motorbike and altogether they sped with the Sanya motorbike belonging to the victim.
Luck eluded the suspects after the victim’s shout for help attracted members of the community, including other commercial motor riders. They chased the robbers and managed to arrest two of them in the neighbouring village, Kpevi.
The third suspect however managed to escape arrest and fled into the bush. The mob subjected the two suspects to severe beatings before the police arrived and rescued the suspects. They were sent to the hospital for medical treatment.
Upon investigation, the Sanya motorbike was retrieved. They were subsequently arraigned and remanded to reappear on February 10, 2022.
The Public Affairs unit of the Volta Regional Police Command has indicated that robbery of motorbikes; mostly called Okada, has become quite rampant in the area.
To this end the command is putting measures and resources in place to support the Akatsi Police Command stem the development.
According to the unit, offenders will be made to face the full rigours of the law. They have asked the public to provide prompt information to assist Police to keep residents safe.
From Fred Duodu, Ho (k.duodu@yahoo.com