IN TROUBLE! Felivian Ayariga
TWO alleged armed robbers have been killed by policemen from the Accra Regional Police Command in a shoot-out at Ogbojo, near Madina in Accra, while a third suspected robber named as Ramani escaped with gunshot wounds at about 5:30pm yesterday.
One foreign pistol and 10 rounds of ammunition as well as three mobile phones were retrieved from the deceased.
The group was alleged to have killed the policeman in the Tema UBA bank robbery last month.
Rabiu aka Rabba, one of the deceased robbers, and his accomplices are said to be responsible for most armed robberies within Accra and Tema.
The other, Simon Peter, aged about 30, has been identified as the one who shot and killed the Tema cop.
The Regional Police Commander, Mrs. Rose Bio Atinga and her deputy, Christian Tetteh Yohuno, who were visibly excited over the news that Rabiu, the most wanted armed robber in Accra, had been killed, told journalists that the two and their gang members had been involved in a lot of robberies including that of the Ecobank, Accra Mall branch at the Tetteh Quarshie Roundabout in 2011.
Other robberies they had been linked to are Haatso Forex Bureau, Antis (dealers in building materials) robbery this year and the Tema UBA robbery where a cop attached to the Community 4 police station was killed last month.
A source said the robbers, after killing the policeman in the Tema bank robbery, bolted and hid their weapons in the garden of somebody’s private property.
The police had a tip-off and went for the weapons.
When the robbers returned in the hope of recovering their weapons and could not find it, they planned to attack the owner of the house who is a Nigerian.
Police had a hint about the robbers’ intended plan to attack the Nigerian and quickly laid ambush in the said house.
The operation, according to the police, would have led to the death of another officer who was surrounded by the three robbers.
The police officer sustained a little bruise on the left side of his trunk and he is not in danger.
The bodies of the men have since been deposited at the morgue of the Police Hospital.
The police appealed to the general public, especially persons working in health institutions, to help them with information should anybody with gunshot wounds show up at their facilities for treatment.
The Regional Command expressed gratitude to their informants and urged them to keep feeding them with reliable information to help them clamp down on the activities of armed robbers and other violent criminals.
BY Rocklyn Antonio
