Five of the six-member armed syndicate who robbed a car from its owner at gunpoint in Tamale last Sunday have been sentenced to a total of 75 years imprisonment by a Tamale Circuit Court.
Yussif Mustapha, 23; Ibrahim Issah, 27; Seram Addo, 34; Adjei Benjamin, 23, and Vivor Christopher, 27 — were sentenced after they were convicted on their own pleas.
They were convicted on four counts of conspiracy to rob, robbery, and possession of police and military accoutrements.
Sentences
The court, presided over by Mr Alexander Oware, slapped the convicts with a 15-year jail term each.
The sentences, however, did not include the count of possession of arms and ammunition without lawful authority because it was outside the jurisdiction of the court.
A sixth suspect, Alhassan Mohammed, a 29-year-old teacher, who is said to be an informant to the convicts who had pleaded not guilty to the charges, is currently on prison remand to reappear in court on February 9, 2022.
Another suspect picked up in connection with the case, Mahama Nashiru, 28, has been granted bail in the sum of GH¢50,000 with two sureties.
He is expected to reappear in court on February 3, 2022.
Facts
The six, believed to be members of a syndicate operating in the Tamale Metropolis and its environs, were arrested by the police for allegedly snatching a car from its owner at gunpoint at Jonshegu, a suburb of Tamale, last Sunday.
Five of the suspects initially bolted with their booty, but were pursued and arrested at Sawaba, near Buipe, in the Savannah Region.
The sixth suspect, Mohammed, a teacher of Kanvile R/C Primary School, was later picked up at a hideout.
The police retrieved a G3 riffle with a magazine loaded with 16 rounds of ammunition, a pistol, a pair of gloves, a military cap, two military scarfs, a catapult, a coil of cellotape and
military ID cards from the suspects.
Upon interrogation, Mustapha Yussif, who was in military uniform, named Mahama Nashiru as the person that provided them with guns and ammunition.
The police then proceeded to a house and retrieved a G3 rifle fitted with a magazine loaded with 16 rounds of ammunition. He was subsequently arrested days after the incident.
According to the police, while the suspects were being interrogated, a victim of the robbery gang identified a black Toyota Camry robbed in August 2021 on Tamale-Nanton road.
The said vehicle was subsequently impounded by the police.