Fourteen suspected land guards arrested

Fourteen suspected land guards have been dragged to court for allegedly attacking and assaulting 10 people on their land sites at Pantang in the Greater Accra Region.

The accused persons have been charged with conspiracy to commit crime, prohibition of activities of land guards and assault.

They are Illa Ishmael, Bashiru Abdul Latif, Christian Atsu, Ali Sulemana, Augustine Agornyon, Gafari Gyima and Samuel Baah.

The rest are James Okyere, Foster Nii Odoi, Mohammed Abubakari, Masawudu Sowala, Yussif Assilfi, Aminu Musa and Emmanuel Yarbi.

Ishmael has been additionally charged with possession of arms and ammunition and the use of narcotic drugs.

Bail

The court, presided over by Mrs Ellen Ofori Ayeh, granted 13 of the accused persons bail in the sum of GHc100,000, with four sureties each, one to be justified by the court.

Per the bail conditions, all the sureties must be gainfully employed.Advertisement

As another option, the court also ordered that they deposit GHc100,000 as security with the court registry.

Ishmael was denied bail and remanded into police custody for allegedly possessing arms and ammunition and narcotic drugs.

Collapse

During the proceedings, Ishmael collapsed, thereby interrupting the business of the court.

He was, however, resuscitated by the police escort team, after which proceedings continued.

Hearing continues on June 17, 2020.

Facts

Presenting the facts of the case, the prosecutor, Chief Superintendent of Police Mr Alex Odonkor, said the 14 accused persons were land guards who terrorised people and prevented them from working on their lands.

He said on May 30, this year, the complainant in the case, Mr Jonas Adu, an employee of the Jeleel Estate Development Company, together with his colleagues, was working on a land legally acquired by the company at Pantang when Ishmael, in an unregistered Toyota car, led the rest of the accused persons, who were also on board a Toyota Hilux pick-up, with registration number WR 1642-15, and an unregistered Toyota Sienna to the site, attacked and assaulted the 10 people on the land without any just cause.

Distress call and arrest

The prosecution added that the police received a distress call in the process and proceeded to the scene.

According to Chief Supt Odonkor, the accused persons, on seeing the police arrive, rushed into their vehicles to escape but they were blocked with the help of the youth of the area and subsequently arrested by the police.

Search

The prosecutor said a search in the vehicles revealed an AK 47 rifle and 12 rounds of ammunition, two pistols and ammunition, a knife and a wrap of dried leaves suspected to be cannabis in Ishmael’s car.

In addition, he said, two knives and three wraps of dried leaves suspected to be cannabis were found in the unregistered Toyota Sienna.

Chief Supt Odonkor said the accused persons claimed they had been contracted by GN Bank and Sarah Ama Forkuo of Samampa Company to guard the land for them.

Source: graphic.com