Accra, Sept. 8, GNA – An Accra Circuit Court has ordered the Police to file disclosures in the case involving Augustine Okechuku Maazi over an alleged attempted robbery at Labone.
Maazi, an unemployed Nigerian national, is facing eight counts of conspiracy to commit crime to wit robbery, attempted robbery and robbery. He pleaded not guilty when he appeared before the court.
The court remanded him into custody to reappear on Sept. 16, 2026.
The prosecution told the court that investigations were ongoing to apprehend Maazi’s alleged accomplices, who were at large.
It opposed any consideration of bail, insisting that Maazi had no fixed place of abode and was residing in a hotel.
The facts presented to the court identified the complainants as Emmanuel Kweku Archer, a businessman, and the Ghana Police Service.
The prosecution said Police investigations had linked Maazi and five other suspects to a series of alleged robberies between May and August 13, 2026, in Tema, Spintex and Labone.
The prosecution alleged that the group had also operated in neighbouring Togo and Côte d’Ivoire.
It said two of Maazi’s alleged accomplices died during a police operation on Aug. 13, 2026, when the group allegedly attempted to rob customers around banks at Labone.
The court heard that the Office of the Special Operations Assistant to the Inspector-General of Police (SOA-IGP) had received several complaints from bank customers in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area about alleged robberies by suspected armed robbery syndicates.
Following the complaints, a police surveillance team was deployed to monitor the activities of the suspected syndicate at various banks within the Greater Accra and Tema metropolitan areas.
The prosecution said police received information that the group had operated at Zenith Bank and Fidelity Bank branches at Spintex on June 9 and June 11, 2026, respectively.
The suspects were allegedly captured on closed-circuit television (CCTV) travelling in a Toyota Highlander and a Hyundai Tucson.
Police investigations, the court heard, indicated that the suspected gang members allegedly monitored bank customers, followed them after withdrawals and used master keys or force to gain access to their vehicles.
The prosecution alleged that the group’s leader, identified as Harrison Chinedu, and another suspect known as Dan, were usually armed with pistols.
On May 17, 2026, the suspects allegedly followed a woman who had withdrawn GH¢50,000 from Republic Bank’s Tema branch and robbed her at gunpoint at Agbamaame in Tema Community Two.
The prosecution also alleged that on June 11, 2026, the group attacked a man at gunpoint after he had withdrawn an unspecified amount of money from Republic Bank’s Achimota branch and was travelling home.
It said the suspects usually operated during banking hours in the Accra and Tema metropolitan areas.
The court heard that at about 1045 hours on August 13, 2026, the SOA-IGP surveillance team received information that the suspected group had been sighted at Ecobank’s Spintex branch and was heading towards Labone and Cantonments.
The team allegedly monitored the suspects travelling in a black Hyundai Tucson, registration number GS 7915-19, and an ash-coloured Toyota Highlander, registration number GS 1434-18.
Maazi was allegedly in the Toyota Highlander and positioned between Zenith Bank and GCB Bank at Labone, while the occupants of the Hyundai Tucson were allegedly positioned around Ecobank, Labone.
The police intercepted the occupants of the Hyundai Tucson at Fidelity Bank, Labone, and arrested its driver, while the other occupants allegedly escaped.
The occupants of the Toyota Highlander allegedly sped away after spotting the police and opened fire, prompting a police pursuit.
The prosecution said the pursuit continued from Zenith Bank, Labone, through Metro TV, Morning Star, the Togo Embassy, the Ghana Immigration Service and the United States Embassy, before ending at a section of the road about 30 metres from the GCB and Zenith Bank branches at Labone.
During an exchange of gunfire, two of the alleged accomplices were shot and lost control of the Toyota Highlander, which collided with several vehicles, including two unmarked police vehicles.
The two suspects were rushed to the Police Hospital for treatment but were pronounced dead on arrival, according to the prosecution.
A search of the Toyota Highlander allegedly led to the recovery of two vehicle registration plates, GR 3040-22 and GS 3588-23, and a Blow F90 pistol.
Preliminary investigations, the prosecution said, indicated that the suspects allegedly brought vehicles from Nigeria into Ghana and replaced their foreign registration plates with Ghanaian number plates before using them in their operations.
The prosecution further alleged that the group operated across Ghana’s borders, particularly in Togo and Côte d’Ivoire.
Investigations are continuing to locate and arrest the other alleged accomplices who remain at large.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
