Suspects wanted
The police gave their names as Azumah Yahyah, the most notorious and believed to be hiding in Wa; Seidu Mali believed to be hiding in Amasaman, Titi and Yarba, suspected to be hiding in Mandare, Upper West Region; Amadu Grumah in Sawla, Solo in Hamile, Sulley Joro, also hiding in Wa.
The others are Abdulai Somir, Wa; Hamadum in Talentugu, Amarh Belajo, Yendi; Issaka, Bimbila; Sule Kota, Yendi; Osman Kunde, Gwulu; Amabelajo and Sulley Kuta, Yendi, and Azumah Yahya, Wa.
The rest are Ahmadu Grumah, Sawla; Fatau Wa, Sekou and Musah Yamba, Techiman; Garibu, Nkawkaw and Ibrahim Samba who has relocated from his base at Asutuare junction to an unknown destination in the Volta Region.
Robberies countrywide
According to the Director General of the CID, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP), Mr Bright Oduro, the gang was responsible for most robberies in all parts of the country, particularly in the Eastern, Western, Southern part of Ashanti and Upper East and West regions.
He mentioned a number of the robberies and said about 5:30 a.m. on March 3, 2017, at Akokoaon on the Kumasi-Atebubu road, eight of the suspects blocked the road and two prison officers who were travelling on that road at the time tried to save the situation.
The robbers fired shots into the vehicle of the prison officers, killing ACO Nana Yaw Antwi instantly and injuring the other who is currently blind in one eye.
After that, they robbed the occupants of a Daf truck with registration number AS-1800-A, a Ssangyong bus with registration number AS-1969-A, as well as passengers on a taxicab.
DCOP Oduro said on June 15, 2017, the robbers blocked the Agona Wiamoasi and Bipoah road and robbed commuters (mostly market women) of their cash, mobile phones and other valuables.
He said following the arrest of the 24 suspects in June this year, the number of highway robbery cases had reduced drastically and a number of mobile phones belonging to victims, as well as AK 47 assault rifles, had also been retrieved from them.
2016 robberies
DCOP Oduro recalled that the gang also undertook a number of robberies in the latter part of 2016 and said notable among them was the Wechiaw-Wa road robbery in Upper West, during which Police Constable Kwakuvi Hukpoti, who was stationed in Wa, was killed.
On the Buipe-Tamale road, the gang also attacked a well-known businessman, Adamu Bisabido, killing him instantly.
Already, the CID has arrested 24 highway robbers believed to be the masterminds of a number of robberies on major highways across the country.
The arrested robbers, believed to be of Fulani extraction, are alleged to have been operating a network which shared information on the movement of passenger buses from Accra to all parts of the country.
They are also suspected to be involved in cross-border crimes, especially in northern Ghana and neighbouring Burkina Faso.
