The Tarkwa Circuit Court has sentenced two retired soldiers and nine other individuals who robbed a gold-buying company at Wassa Akropong in the Western Region to 252 years in prison with hard labor.
Former soldier Emmanuel Tetteh, also known as “Rocky Study,” is employed as a private security guard while his colleague Samuel Agbadoku is out of work.
Private security guard Isaac Adjei, fetish priest Frank Afavi, alias “Hero,” kente weaver Yaw Adzevi, and driver Anthony Ayivie Kwame Senyo, alias “Shoto,” were all given 17 years in prison.
The remaining individuals were given 25 years each: farmer Dickson Kumedzro, also known as “Jaggar,” fetish priest Pascal Korku Atatsitsey, alias “Mezaya,” and self-proclaimed businessman Ruben Kportufe, also known as “Offei.”
Meanwhile, a former prisoner known by the alias “Meme,” Mohammed Buzu, would serve 50 years.
They begged the presiding judge, Mrs. Hathia Ama Manu, to balance justice with mercy, even though they denied committing the robbery and conspiracy charges, which were brought against them in 2018.
The prosecution’s lead prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Isaac Babayi, asserted that the court ought to disregard the pleas of the guilty and instead impose harsher penalties on them to dissuade the public.
He said, “These offenders do not deserve mercy from the court.”
Mr. Prince Dennis, the complainant, is the branch manager of AU Resources Ghana Limited, which deals in gold, and Adjei works as a security guard for the same business.
The remaining prisoners live in Saki, a suburb of Ashaiman, and the Volta and Greater Accra Regions’ respective suburbs of Klikor, Weta, Agbozume, Aflao, and Sogakope.
Adjei reached out to Tetteh in September 2018, telling him that the company he was employed by had a lot of refined gold, and he wanted some people to come and steal it so he could take home his share.
The prosecution claims that Adjei continued to put pressure on Tetteh and that, in order to gather men for the operation, he called Agbadoku, a close ally from their time in the military.
After that, Agbadoku went to Agbozume, his hometown, where he met Atatsitsey. After discussing the matter with a fetish priest, he agreed to the terms and consulted Afavi, another fetish priest who would be joining him.
After much consideration, he said, they brought in Atatsitsey, Afavi Kumedzro, Adzevi, Awali, and Peter Adoku, who is currently at large. Agbadoku allegedly led them from Agbozume to Wassa Akropong on October 1, 2018, where they were billeted in a hotel in preparation for the heist.
Following their briefing, Atatsitsey turned them over to Tetteh, who took them to the complainant’s business, where they tried to rob them but were unable to do so because they were unarmed.
ASP Babayi said Afavi accessed the situation and contacted Buzu and Adoku from Aflao to join them at Wassa Akropong to execute the job, and on October 5, 2018, the two hired Senyo’s vehicle with pistols to the place.
The prosecution claimed that around three o’clock in the afternoon the following day, Atatsitsey, Kumedzro, Awali, Buzu, and Adoku broke into the gold-buying business carrying guns and knives. They took 7.5 kilograms of refined gold worth GH¢1,543,500, six cell phones worth GH¢4,800.00, and GH¢250,000 in cash.
He claimed that during the robbery, they were caught by a closed-circuit television camera set up in the business’s yard. Following the operation, they drove to Kasoa and checked into a hotel while carrying the stolen goods.
ASP Babayi said while waiting for Adjei and Atatsitsey, a misunderstanding ensued among them, and this alerted the security officer who was on duty at the hotel, and he informed the Kasoa police patrol team for assistance.
Upon apprehending Atatsitsey and Senyo, the team discovered an Italian pistol with a round of ammunition, two kitchen knives, a hammer, and a talisman.
They denied involvement in the crime, and the case was later transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department Headquarters in Accra for further investigation.
The court heard that during the investigation, Atatsitsey, Kumedzro, Adzefi, and Senyo confessed and mentioned Kportufe and Buzu as their accomplices.
They also disclosed that when the police arrived at the Kasoa Hotel, Awali, Kportufe, Buzu, and Adoku were there, but they were able to flee through the windows.
Agbadoku was one of the members of the group that robbed the complainant, and he was found and arrested at Akatsi, he said. Awali was later arrested at Kpoglu, near Dzodze in the Volta Region, and Tetteh was also picked up at Kyebi in the Eastern Region.
Nine of the convicts admitted the offense in their caution statements and said the gold and cash they had from the operation were in the custody of Buzu and Adoku, who were then at large.
When Buzu was arrested in Tema on January 15, 2022, he stated that Adoku had stolen the money and gold from them while they were in Benin.
The court stated before rendering a decision that Adoku ought to be listed as wanted and taken into custody right away to be prosecuted.
