Tema Highway Robbers Caged

THE TWO suspects who were arrested by the Tema Regional Police Command Highway Patrol Team for allegedly robbing an Australian-based Ghanaian nurse on the Accra-Tema Motorway have been remanded by the Tema Circuit Court �A�. The accused persons, Akpatsu Mawumunyu, a 57-year-old welder and Michael Agyapong, a 34-year-old taxi driver, were said to be residents of Ashaiman and Odorkor in Accra respectively. They pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against them when they made their first appearance in a court presided over by Kyei Baffour, with Chief Inspector Adolphus Otchere as the prosecutor. Chief Inspector Otchere narrated to the court that on April 14, 2012, the complainants, Cynthia Morkeh and Rosemary Attu, a nurse in Australia who is currently on holidays in Ghana, asked Agyapong, the taxi driver, to take them to their hometown at Bodada near Jasikan in the Volta Region. When returning to Accra two days later at around 9:00pm, onboard the same Kia Spectra taxi cab with registration number GC 3126-11, the passengers asked Agyapong to stop so they could ease themselves before hitting the Tema-Accra Motorway. The prosecutor mentioned that Agyapong declined to urinate, noting that about 100 meters after the Ashaiman overpass, the driver suddenly stopped without any reason and shortly after three men wielding machetes emerged from the bush and attacked the passengers. Chief Inspector Otchere further stated that the suspects stole a lady�s handbag containing US$7,500, GH�1300, a visa card, medical insurance card, I-pad computer, I-phone and clothes belonging to Rosemary Attu. He noted that the police highway patrol team immediately arrived at the scene, arrested the taxi driver and pursued the robbers who were seen escaping through the bush. According to Chief Inspector Otchere, the patrol team arrested Akpatsu, who was then wearing a black mask, in the bush, while the other two suspects managed to escape with the booty. The prosecutor mentioned that the accused persons admitted the offence in their caution statements and were remanded when arraigned before the above court.