Five suspected armed robbers nabbed

Page 46: Daily Graphic, September 3, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
FIVE suspected armed robbers believed to have embarked on a number of robbery operations in Accra between last year and this year have been arrested.
The suspects are Napoleon Gomez alias Napo, 37, Delali Alormatu alias Tilapia, 25, Eric Kwame Danso, 26 years, Abdul Razak Lartey, 20, and Nana Akuffo, 20.
Their arrest was a result of the reward system instituted by the Police Administration which many members of the public are taking advantage of to pass on information on suspected criminals to the police.
Briefing newsmen in Accra yesterday, the Deputy Accra Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Christian Tetteh Yohuno, said Napo, a driver who had been on the wanted list of the police since February 1, 2008, was arrested on August 22, 2009 at the Takoradi Station at Kaneshie.
He said Napo and one of his robbery partners, Ebenezer Obese, a videographer, who was arrested on August 13, 2009, were allegedly linked to four robberies including the taking of a safe from a filling station at Taifa in which they had GH¢7,000.
He said in another operation, the two robbers also allegedly confessed to robbing a vehicle and its occupants at Abelenkpe near Santana Hotel in which they took away GH¢800, a laptop, four mobile phones and a flatscreen television set.
ACP Yohuno said at another time near the Awoshie Traffic Lights, the two and other squad members robbed the occupants of a vehicle of $200, GH¢1,400, a laptop and two mobile phones. They were also involved in a robbery at Bubuashie in which GH¢1,300, a mobile phone, and a laptop were stolen from the occupants of the vehicle.
He said in all the four street robberies, they used a taxi belonging to Napo, with registration number GR 2624 R, to always cross the way of their victims before robbing them.
According to him, both Napo and Obese identified other members of their squad as Sammy, Ayigbe, Sunday and Obuor, who are all on remand at the Nsawam Prisons, and Coffie, whom they claimed was now residing in South Africa.
He said a first attempt to arrest Obese, also known as Doctor alias Aware, proved futile as he bolted through the ceiling of his house at Weija.
With regard to Tilapia, ACP Yohuno said the suspect was arrested at about 2a.m. on September 1, this year at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle.
He said £140 was found in his pocket, which Tilapia claimed he picked from someone’s purse while struggling to board a Kasoa bound truck on August 31, 2009 at about 7:30p.m.
ACP Yohuno said prior to his arrest last Tuesday, Tilapia had jumped bail in another robbery case while he was also having a new docket in his name for prosecution.
He said Eric Kwame Danso was part of a gang that specialised in residential robberies.
He said after his arrest on September 1, 2009, Danso allegedly confessed to taking part in seven residential robberies at Nautical area in Nungua, Lashibi, Bubiashie and Dansoman in which various sums of money, laptops, mobile phones and a foreign pistol with eight rounds of ammunition were stolen.
According to ACP Yohuno, Danso mentioned other members of his gang as Nana Akuffo, alias “O” Nana @ Never Say Die and Abdul Razak Lartey, who was arrested four months ago.
He commended members of the public who were volunteering information to the public on suspected criminals.
He was also grateful to the government for the financial incentives to informants, which was helping to address the problem of crime in the country.