• Crime continues to rise in the country
• The month of August recorded quite a number of crime stories
• Some suspects are in police custody assisting investigations
The month of August has been littered with so many big cases of crimes.
From suspected ritual killings to gang rapes, spousal murders, and several reports of robbery attacks – including the killing of an international journalist – it seems the job for the new Inspector General of Police, Dr. George Dampare Akuffo, will just be tougher than anticipated.
The list might be longer than this but here are a few of the major criminal activities that have happened, or, have been given wide attention in the country within the month of August.
Here they are:
1. The Abesim murder
One of the most talked-about headlines in the month has been the alleged ritual killing of some boys at Abesim in the Sunyani Municipality.
Richard Appiah, a 28-year-old architect and the prime suspect, in this case, was arrested after the police found some body parts in his fridge and the bodies of two boys in his room.
Two weeks ago, news broke on how the supposed architect had been arrested after dead bodies were discovered in his room at Alaska, in the Sunyani Municipality of the Bono region.
Initial reports said a teenager, related to the suspect, had gone missing following which a report was lodged with the police and a search was triggered.
It turned out that the missing person was last spotted with Richard Appiah, who was contacted by the police and the search party.
To deflect attention, Appiah also joined in the search and gave leads on possible places to find the missing boy.
At a point, it was suggested that the search party proceeds to his house following which the discovery of the bodies of the missing boy was made.
Further checks revealed the body of another teenager and a yet-to-be-identified adult in his room, as well as chopped body parts stocked in his fridge, police reports said.
Since then, the IGP has visited the community and promised the police will bring finality to this investigation and get the perpetrators dealt with according to the law.
Also, the police have been able to discover a spot where Richard Appiah buried some human parts of his victims.
Nima shooting
A wedding celebration turned sour after a resident of Nima-Freetown got hit by a stray bullet shot by jubilant friends and family of the bride and groom.
27-year-old Eunice Yeboah was on her way home on Sunday, August 22, in the company of her younger brother, Wisdom, when the mishap occurred.
The bullet, according to her brother who narrated the incident to Laud Adu-Asare on GhanaWeb’s #SayItLoud programme, hit her through her hip and penetrated her stomach.
Some excited friends and family of the groom who had amassed in front of the reception grounds had been firing shots indiscriminately.
Wisdom noted that after failing to get adequate help at the Maamobi Polyclinic, they rushed her to the Police Hospital to seek further treatment.
This was after they left the Accra Regional Hospital also known as Ridge Hospital after complaints that the processes were slow amidst the unavailability of space.
After a 6-hour surgery to remove the bullet from her body, the doctor revealed that Eunice’s intestines and womb had been badly ruptured and would need further treatment.
Eunice Yeboah’s family say the case is being investigated by the police although no arrest has been made yet.
Killing of international journalist
An international journalist who was in Ghana for a documentary on the peace and stability in the country was shot to death by suspected armed robbers on the Tamale–Buipe road in the Savannah region.
According to the Northern Regional Police command, the incident occurred around the Mpaha Junction at 7 pm on Monday, August 23, 2021.
A statement signed by the Officer in Charge in Buipe, Chief Inspector George Gyasi, and addressed to the doctors at Tamale Teaching Hospital, indicated that the police officers rushed to the scene but the robbers had fled through the bush before their arrival.
The victims, Umaru Abdul Hakim and Syed Taalay Ahmed, were met at the scene with gunshot wounds.
They were traveling on board a Toyota Hiace vehicle with registration number GT 7405-16.
On reaching a section of the road not far away from the Mpaha Junction, a number of armed men suddenly emerged from the bush and opened fire on them, deflating their tires in the process and forcing the vehicle to stop.
Some of the bullets penetrated the vehicle and hit the two victims.
The armed men then robbed them of their mobile phones and an unspecified amount of money and fled.
The victims were rushed to the Buipe polyclinic for treatment and were later transferred to the Tamale Teaching Hospital for further treatment but upon arrival, Taalay Ahmed, a journalist who was on assignment in Ghana from the London based Television channel MTA international, was pronounced dead.
Former president, John Dramani Mahama, has described the killing as ironic considering the subject matter for which the journalist was in the country.
He has charged the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to address the worrying development.
Suhum funeral riot
This past weekend, a funeral at Suhum turned chaotic and bloody after a man, wielding a machete, slashed the head of another.
It turned out this man (with the machete) was the driver of the Member of Parliament for Suhum, Boafo Kwadwo Asante.
GhanaWeb reported the incident as the Suhum District Police Command in Eastern Region has declared the driver wanted, for allegedly inflicting wounds on one Kwesi Amoani.
Reports indicated that the driver, who is known as Jamalo, inflicted knife wounds on Kwesi Amoani during the violence, hence the manhunt by the police.
DSP Ebenezer Tetteh, the Public Relations Officer of the Eastern Regional Police command said investigations were underway, with steps being made to arrest the driver. He announced that the victims who sustained wounds are on admission at the Suhum Government Hospital receiving treatment.
13-year-old gang raped
Getting to the tail end of last week, it was reported that four herdsmen had allegedly raped a 13-year-old girl and shot her 40-year-old father, Kwabena Quaye.
The incident happened at Gomoa Adeantem in the Gomoa East District in the Central Region.
It is reported that the herdsmen destroyed farm crops and also terrorized residents of the community.
Confirming the incident, Nana Essel Andoh, the chief of Gomoa Adeantem said he had informed the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, about the incident.
The chief added that the youth of the area had vowed to fight the herdsmen and he hoped the police would intervene.
“I know the laws of the country, so allowing the youth to take such action will be uncalled for and that is why I involved the media in helping us fight this issue,” he said.
Bright Star proprietor murder
Unidentified assailants reportedly killed a Ghanaian football administrator based in the Eastern Region this past weekend.
Ghanasportsonline, citing a publication by the Eastern Region Football Association, disclosed that the victim is Fredrick Ohene Gyan, President of Eastern Region-based club Kwamekrom Bright Stars FC.
According to the report, the Kwamekrom Bright Stars FC boss was stabbed to death at midnight on Saturday, August 28, at his residence in the region.
Although the details are scanty, Frederick Ohene Gyan, known to be the bankroller of the promising club, was stabbed multiple times with a knife and left in a pool of blood in his home.
Further details provided by Starr news however indicated that contrary to earlier reports, Mr Ohene Gyan was shot.
A resident who narrated the incident to Starr noted that “the victim was a Proprietor of a private school at Kwamekrom near Obodaka with football club call Bright stars. He has built his house at Pokrom.
“He was shot Friday about 10:00 pm while entering his room upon return from town by some gunmen. Nobody can tell if the gunmen were hiding in the house or what. Nobody knows.”
Mafi Dove ritual killing
A 25-year-old resident of Mafi Dove in the Central Tongu District of the Volta region is in the grips of the Battor Aveyime Police Command for allegedly beheading a 12-year-old boy for ritual purposes.
According to residents, the incident happened late Sunday night, after a drumming competition among a section of residents following the burial of one of their own.
Unit Committee Chairman, Amos Alorse told TV3, the sound of screaming residents drew their attention to the area. Upon questioning, the suspect allegedly confessed to being sent by one prophetess, Floda Ekpe, to provide a human head for some rituals.
The suspect reportedly took the head of the 12-year-old to the prophetess, while dumping the rest of the body in a nearby waterbody.
Anxious residents traced the blood trails from the human head to the prayer camp of the prophetess and broke into the structure, where the suspect and the human head were found.
The police is currently looking into the matter, while the 25-year-old remains in custody.
Spousal murders
There has been a handful of reported cases of how some people have killed their spouses and one of them was the case of how a 40-year-old, Emmanuel Kofi Gafa, killed his wife and two daughters.
38-year-old Patience Kpezle and her two children – Belinda Nyarko, 13, and Isaac Nyarko Gafa, 11, were found dead in a room at Cashland, a suburb of Akyem Ntronang in the Eastern region on August 24, 2021.
Residents suspected foul play after they started perceiving a stench from the room, resulting in the Assemblymember for the Mentukwa Electoral, Samuel Dodzi, filing a complaint with the police.
The police discovered the bodies after forcing the door to the room open.
The police have since grabbed the suspect at his hideout at Nyanoa Ba, a farming Community.
“The 40-year-old man suspected to have murdered the children and wife at Ntronang based on intelligence has been arrested based on appeal police made to persons who will see him around the vicinity. He was arrested at a village called Nyanoa and as we speak, he is being transported to New Abirem District Police Command,” the police said.
Robberies
There have also been a number of robbery cases reported in the country within the month.
A story sourced to starrfm.com.gh, stated that a driver’s mate had allegedly been strangulated to death by armed robbers who attacked two fuel filling stations at Oborpah, a farming community along Oterkpolu to Odumase Krobo highway in the Eastern Region.
The three masked robbers wielding pistols reportedly strangled the driver’s mate who was sleeping under one of the limestone trucks parked at Safety Filling station after they mistook him for a security man on duty.
The robbers first attacked the Safety filling station then later leapt to Pacific Filling station which is a few meters away and closer to a Police checkpoint on the road.
The assailants made away with a total amount of over GH¢21,000. The robbers who were on foot fled into the bush before Police came to the scenes.
