Okada rider remanded over alleged robbery spree

Accra-Ghana, May 17, GNA – A commercial motorbike rider, has been remanded into police custody by an Accra Circuit Court for allegedly robbing five ladies in I robbery spree in 2022.
Solomon Ohene, 21, denied robbing Dorcas Boatemaa, Sarah Yeboah, Beatrice Dery, Bernice Nimako and Faustina Asantewaa Arthur of their handbags containing sums of monies, cellular phones, among other valuables whilst inflicting cutlass wounds and pushing some down in the process amidst threats.
He will be brought back to the Court presided over by Mr Samuel Bright on May 30, 2023.
Meanwhile, his accomplice, one Edmund Kojo is deceased.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Maxwell Oppong narrating the incidents said the complainants were Dorcas; trader, Sarah; trader, Beatrice; salesperson, Bernice; student and Faustina; businesswoman.
They are residents of Ablekuma, Pokuase, Amasaman, all suburbs of the Greater Accra Region whereas Ohene lives at Three Junction Amasaman.
The prosecution said in the evening of Sunday December 18, 2022, the accused person met his accomplice Edmund Kojo (now deceased) at a washing bay at ‘3’ junction where the accused person lived with his uncle.
They both planned the robbery expedition for the next day at 0300 hours and on Monday, December 19, 2022, at the agreed time, the deceased Edmund Kojo allegedly arrived at the same location with an unregistered Royal Motorbike and they set off for their robbery expedition.
It said upon reaching Ablekuma Fan Milk at about 0430 hours, the accused and his accomplice spotted Boatemaa by the roadside and they quickly stopped and rushed on her with cutlasses they were holding.
The prosecution said they threatened to kill her if she did not hand over her handbag, thus, Boatemaa surrendered her handbag containing iPhone 6x plus and GHC300.00 with her identification cards.
The Court heard that Ohene and his deceased accomplice sped off and at about 0445 hours, they attacked Sarah with the cutlass, inflicted a wound on her left arm and succeeded in robbing her of her handbag which contained a small Nokia Phone and cash of GHC30.00 at Ablekuma junction.
The prosecution said the two also went through the streets and got to the Pokuase Mayera stretch where they attacked Beatrice at a junction called Electricals, where Ohene threatened to kill her if she did not surrender her bag.
For fear of her life, she surrendered her bag containing shopping vouchers and other personal effects together with her Samsung galaxy A12.
The prosecution said again, Ohene and Kojo proceeded to Sonitra at Amasaman at about 0540 hours and robbed Bernice of her handbag containing one Samsung Galaxy Tablet valued GHC1,600.00 and GHC42.00.
At about 100 meters away from Asantewaa, the accused and his accomplice allegedly attacked her, threatened to kill her and successfully robbed her of her small keypad phone and GHC500.00.
The Police, upon receiving several distress calls, traced and chased the accused person and his accomplice.
The prosecution said having noticed the closeness of the Police, they abandoned the motorbike and fled on foot, but luck eluded them when they were chased and attacked by a mob.
The two were rescued by the Police, but Edmund Kojo died shortly after, the prosecution told the Court.
it said during investigation, the accused person admitted the offences.
Meanwhile, Mr Ameyaw Nyamekye, defence counsel for Ohene, in praying for bail, said the accused person did not admit to the crime on his arrest.
He said his client had been incarcerated for six months, which was unlawful, adding that Ohene was discharged by a Circuit Court for want of prosecution after he had been arraigned, only for the Police to rearrest him.
The prosecution debunked the assertion that Ohene had been incarcerated unlawfully, explaining that he had six different cases pending in other courts and that it was the Court that had kept him in custody.