[ 2011-10-04 ]

5 Fulani robbers busted
The Police in Brong Ahafo have made a major
headway in the combat against armed robbery
following the arrest of five notorious Fulani
herdsmen, including their spiritual mentor,
believed to be behind the numerous highway robbery
cases on the Yeji-Kintampo road.

The five suspects, all of Fulani extractions, are
Aliu Mallam Abubakar, 37; the spiritual leader of
the group, Umaru Abubakar, 22, Mohammed Saliu, 26,
Jayee Fulani, 35 and Umaru Bedu, 25.

They were among a gang of about seven suspected
highway robbers wearing masks and wielding guns
and cutlasses who attacked travelling traders from
Yeji to Wa on September 26 on the Yeji-Kintampo
section of the road.

The robbers were arrested by the inhabitants of
the crime-prone area and later handed over to the
police.

This was after the police had directed the
residents to mount roadblocks at various locations
and dispatched search parties to pursue the
suspected robbers a few hours after the incident
had taken place around 7:00.p.m.

The Brong Ahafo Regional Police Commander, DCOP
Robert Ayalingo, at a press briefing on Friday,
said the five Fulani men were all strangers in the
area and had no business at the place at the time
of their arrest which was deep in the night.

He said the police had placed them in custody
pending further investigations whilst his men had
mounted a manhunt for the other accomplices who
escaped.

DCOP Ayalingo told journalists that the suspected
Fulani highway robbers attacked a Benz bus with
registration number GT 6286 C which was carrying
30 passengers to Wa after they had finished their
trading activities at the Yeji Market.

According to the regional police commander, the
driver of the vehicle, Emmanuel Bazaawale, who was
also the complainant, told the police that he set
off from Yeji around 6:00.p.m and on reaching a
spot between Yapare and Buom at about 7:00.p.m, a
group of armed men numbering about seven, wearing
masks and wielding guns and other offensive
implements, stopped the vehicle.

The police chief said the armed men robbed the
driver and the passengers of their mobile phones
and an unspecified amount of money and fled into
the bush.

He said information was quickly dispatched to the
assemblyman and other opinion leaders of Yapare,
Zabrama and Buom who mobilized residents to mount
barriers and organize search parties to pursue the
armed men.

He said at about 12:30.a.m the next day, the
people of Yapare succeeded in arresting suspect
Umaru Abubakar who emerged from the bush near the
crime scene and armed with a shotgun, a cutlass, a
torch-light and talisman. On interrogation by the
assemblyman of the area, Umaru confirmed having
taken part in the robbery with six others.

DCOP Ayalingo further mentioned that a few hours
later, at about 4:30.a.m. the same day, residents
of Buom also arrested suspect Aliu Mallam
Abubakar, who admitted to being the spiritual
mentor of the gang and Mohammed Saliu.

The two were seen on separate motorbikes from the
direction of the crime scene.

Later on the same day, the people of Apesika also
arrested suspects Jayee Fulani and Umaru Bedu on
the outskirts of the town when they also emerged
from the nearby bush with their dresses wet
because it was raining during the robbery attack.

A search on the two revealed two mobile phones,
three mobile phone batteries, two wristwatches,
one torch-light and an amount of GH¢220.

Source - Daily Guide

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