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The accused persons (from left): Yakubu Yusif, Abdul Razak Shaibu, Banabas Kayase and Opoku Agyemang.
The accused persons (from left): Yakubu Yusif, Abdul Razak Shaibu, Banabas Kayase and Opoku Agyemang.

Akua Donkor’s assailants before court

Four persons yesterday appeared before the Accra Circuit Court for allegedly embarking on a robbery attack on the Founder and Leader of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), Madam Akua Donkor.

The accused persons, including the Central Regional Chairman of the GFP, Yakubu Yusi, and Madam Donkor’s personal driver, Banabas Kayase, have been charged with conspiracy to commit crime and robbery.

The other persons allegedly involved in the robbery are Opoku Agyemang, a trader, and Abdul Razak Shaibu, a worker at the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU).

Two other alleged members of the gang known only as Joe and Nuamah, are currently on the run.

Yusif, Kayase and Agyemang are alleged to have contracted Shaibu, Joe and Nuamah to rob the former presidential hopeful at Sowutuom, near Accra on December 30, last year.

The alleged robbers, armed with guns, attacked Madam Donkor in her vehicle and made away with her handbag containing $30,000, GH¢2,000, a plane ticket and other items.

Bail denied

An attempt by lawyers for the accused persons to secure bail for their clients at yesterday’s hearing proved futile, as the court, presided over by Mrs Abena Oppong Adjin-Doku, refused to grant them bail.

Counsel for Kayase and Agyemang, Mr Vincent Aikins, argued that based on the facts of the case, the prosecution should have charged his clients with only conspiracy, not robbery.

“There is more to the case than just what meets the eye. At the right time, we will prove their innocence,’’ he argued.

The lawyer for Shaibu, Mr Felix Ntoso, also prayed the court to grant his client bail because the facts of the case did not support the charges levelled against him (Shaibu) and that based on a Supreme Court judgement, all offences in the country were bailable.

Counsel further argued that his client had a fixed place of abode and would always make himself available for court proceedings.

The court, however, denied the bail application and adjourned the case to January 23, 2016.

Plot

Narrating the facts of the case, the prosecutor, Chief Superintendent Duuti Tuaruka, said Yusif, Kayase and Agyemang got wind that Madam Donkor had in her possession $30,000 with which she intended to travel outside the country.

The three, he said, decided to rob her and contracted Shaibu, Joe and Nuamah to conduct the operation.

“They secretly planned to also kill Madam Donkor so that they could share the cash,’’ he said.

Robbery attack

On December, 30, 2016, Madam Donkor, in the company of Yusif and Kayase (who was driving), was in the car from Taifa to the Kotoka International Airport to catch a flight to the United States.

The prosecutor explained that Madam Donkor decided to make a stopover at her house before heading for the airport.

“On reaching Sowutuom, Shaibu, Joe and Nuamah, armed with guns, appeared on a motorbike behind the vehicle. As soon as Kayase spotted the armed men, he reduced the speed of the car and switched on double hazard to signal that Madam Donkor was in the car,’’ he said.

Chief Supt Tuaruka added that Kayase immediately parked the car and Shaibu, Joe and Nuamah attacked Madam Donkor.

“The robbers dragged Madam Donkor from the vehicle and snatched her travelling bag containing $30,000, a plane ticket, a Ghanaian passport, a voter’s ID card and GH¢2,000 and escaped,’’ the prosecutor stated.

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