The police in the Sissala West district have arrested a Burkinabe national in the Gbele Park Reserve near Desime over suspicion that he is a criminal.
The Upper West Regional Police Crime Officer, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Reynolds Manteaw, who described the man as a criminal of Burkinabe descent, said the suspect, Sambo Jallow Ado, aged 37 years speaks `Mossie.
ACP Manteaw told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that the suspect was handed over to the Tumu Divisional Police who later sent him to the Regional Police Command in Wa.
“When he was brought to the Regional Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, he was interrogated thoroughly where Sambo confessed to stealing all the items that were found on him.
“They included five mobile phones, four SIM cards, a solar panel, a single-barreled gun, a bicycle, and cash of Four Hundred and Twenty-six Ghana Cedis and few CFA denominations”, ACP Mr Manteaw said.
Speaking through an interpreter in ‘Mossi’, the suspect told the CID, that he trekked from Burkina Faso to Ghana through Jeffissi to find a quiet place to stay in the forest.
“He was able to tell us where and the people he stole the items from. The Police then followed him to Welembelle where one Alhaji Abubaker Abdullahi, a herdsman, domiciled in Welembelle claimed ownership of one of the phones and his stolen bicycle, which was also found with Sambo Ado, as the last missed call on the mobile phone showed through our investigation”, ACP Mr Manteaw said.
Sambo Ado added that he picked the gun with BB cartridges from an abandoned hut in the bush close to the reserve.
“When he was asked further what he was using the Mobile phone for, he stated, that he was using it to play music”, he said.
The Regional CID indicated that the said Alhaji Abubaker Abdullahi has been granted Police inquiry bail whilst the suspect, Sambo Jallo Ado, will be put before court for stealing and unlawful possession of an unlicensed firearm.
“We will now put him before the court to enable us do other follow-ups in the investigations”, the CID said.
ACP Manteaw was grateful to the community for being observant and called on others to do same saying, “We entreat all community members to be each other’s keeper and open their eyes by being vigilant to protect the country”.
He urged the public to call the toll-free line 18555 any time they see something, especially communities on the borderline to help secure the country from the threat of terrorism being experienced by neighbouring countries.