The Bekwai Circuit Court has remanded into prison custody seven men in connection with robberies on gold dealers at Manso-Mossikrom in the Ashanti Region.
The accused persons, including son of one of the victims, have been charged with conspiracy and robbery after they went on rampage robbing the dealers and shooting some of the victims on June 16, 2021.
Those remanded include Kwaku Marfo alias Abi Solo Rockstar (barber), 23; Kwabena Kusi aka Gabby Stone Armageddon (commercial cyclist), 21; Kwaku Amponsah alias Plus 2 (miner), 24; Emmanuel Kofi Biegya (commercial cyclist), 25; Evans Amoah aka Zion (security guard) 37; Ernest Awutey alias Cyborg (security guard), 32; and Kwabena Ibrahim aka Capo (miner), 29.
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Prosecutor, Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Ofori told the court that the accused persons are residents of Manso-Mossikrom, Manso-Abiram, Manso-Nkran and Manso-Afraso.
He said on June 16, around 8:00 am, Kwaku Marfo, a son of complainant Kwabena Boapem aka Nana Bronya, conspired with the gang members to rob his father.
According to him, Ernest Awutey and Kwabena Ibrahim on the same day at about 9:30 pm came to sell raw gold of 0.3 troy ounces at the cost of GH¢90 to Nana Bronya but in reality, they were there to spy on the house for the purpose of the ‘operation’.
Chief Inspector Ofori said at about 11:00pm, Marfo phoned the gang members and gave them clues on how to go about the robbery operation in his father’s house.
The other gang members, wielding pump action guns, which were loaded with live AA and BB cartridges, proceeded on the illegal mission, targeting all gold dealers in the Manso-Mossikrom community.
The first port of call was Nana Bronya’s house where the accused persons indiscriminately fired several gunshots to scare the inhabitants, whilst undertaking the operation, the prosecutor disclosed.
He said the accused persons succeeded in robbing Nana Bronya of GH¢69,100 and an unspecified quantity of raw gold before going on to attack another victim, Daniel Honu, at his home.
Chief Inspector Ofori indicated that the gang shot and wounded Daniel Honu, for initially putting up resistance, before robbing some quantity of raw gold and cash.
From there, the seven-man gang attacked and robbed Julius Tony of his GH¢20,000 and gold quartz worth GH¢517,000 and mobile phones.
They then moved to Kwabena Tuffour and took his gold quartz and fled through a nearby forest.
He said a team of police officers arrived at the scene later after a distress call and retrieved five used AA and ten BB cartridges, while victims Kwabena Tuffour and Daniel Honu were taken to St. Martin’s Catholic Hospital at Manso Agroyesum for treatment of injuries sustained.
The prosecutor said Kwabena Tuffour was later referred to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi for further medical examination due to complications.
According to him, on June 29, 2021, intelligence led to the arrest of the first accused person, Marfo, who confessed having conspired with the others to carry out the robberies.
He said two spent AA cartridges were found in the first accused person’s room and he later led the police to arrest other members of the gang.
