A group of seven young men, between the ages of 19 and 29 years, have been arrested and charged before an Accra Circuit Court for allegedly preparing to commit a crime at the Kawukudi traffic light in the capital, Accra.
They are Daniel Kofi Asamoah, 29 and unemployed, Isaac Larbi, 20 and a driver, Abdul Latif Gyimah, 20 and a trader, Eric Obuobis, 19 and a car wind screen wiper seller, and Mohammad Ali,19 and a labourer.
The accused persons, who stood in the courtroom making gestures including shaking of heads and shedding of tears, had been remanded into lawful custody yesterday.
The prosecution, led by ASP Maxwell Oppong, told the court, presided over by Samuel Bright, that the accused persons were allegedly preparing to commit a crime, namely stealing.
The accused persons have all pleaded not guilty to the offence.
The prosecutor said they were arrested based upon intelligence gathered by the Accra Regional Police Command to the effect that the accused persons and their accomplices now on the run, had formulated a modus of rendering car wind screen wiping services to drivers in traffic in the Accra Metropolis and take advantage to break into the cars to steal valuables.
He said on November 25 and 26, 2022, between the hours of 6:00pm and 6:30pm, a team of police officers from the Accra Regional Headquarters was detailed to Opeibea, Airport road and Kawududi traffic lights respectively where the accused persons, Daniel Kofi Asamoah, Isaac Larbi, Abdul Latif Gyimah, Eric Obuobie, Mohammed Ali, Sulley Salisu and Bright Nartey were arrested, but their accomplices managed to escape.
ASP indicated that the accused persons were brought to the Regional CID/Accra for investigation.
He added that after investigations, they were charged with the offences and arraigned before the court.
Arguments
Counsel for the accused persons, Yaw Danquah, described the accusation as baseless and that the prosecution had just brought the charges against the accused persons in order to get them off of the streets.
He asked the prosecution rhetorically whether the country was expecting a high profile visitor for the action it was taking to clear the streets.
According to him, they were young persons who made a means from the streets by selling, and that they had not committed any crime.
He accused the prosecution of just not liking how they looked and therefore they should be granted bail.
The prosecutor stated that the accused persons had found ways of attacking motorists in traffic.
But counsel told the court that he would defend the accused persons free of charge.
ASP refuted the claims made by the defence counsel, saying the accused persons had no fixed places of abode, and that they are squatters, and that their operation was a threat to national security, and if they were granted bail they would go back to the streets to continue with their crime.
He asked the counsel to thank his stars if he had encountered or experienced how the accused persons attacked their victims, saying “entowo a da.”
