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5 arrested for robbing Lighthouse Orphanage

Five of the suspected armed robbers who attacked the inmates of the Lighthouse Chapel Orphanage at Jamaicaso, a neighbourhood in Aburi in the Eastern Region, on August 25, this year have been arrested.
The suspects allegedly confessed to the orphanage robbery after they had been busted in another robbery in Tema.

They are Stephen Osei Kufuor, alias Yaw Dinkyene or Yaw Melege, a mobile phone seller; Richard Kofi Asare, alias T.I., 26, a drinking bar operator at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra; Mawuli Awitor, alias Ayigbe More Vim, 24, a vulcaniser at American House in Accra; Desmond Edem Lavison, alias Dzakpa or Ayigbe Edem, 26, a micro computer technologist at Madina New Road, and Daniel Kumi, alias Nana Yaw Kumi, 24, a mason at Kokrobite.

Two members of the gang raped one of the caregivers before leaving the orphanage, taking away money and various electrical gadgets after brutalising the residents.

Two members of the gang, identified only as Brown, alias School Boy or Tupack, and Yaw Maffiah are currently on the run.

Items said to have been stolen are an HP laptop, one Kindle fire HD pad, one Blackberry, one Samsung Galaxy and three other mobile phones, as well as GH¢2,000 and £60.

The Public Affairs Officer of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mr Joseph Benefo Darkwah, told the Daily Graphic that investigations had so far established that prior to the attack on the orphanage, the suspects had met and conspired at the drinking spot owned by Asare on August 24, 2013.

He said at that meeting, Maffiah, who is a resident of Aburi, identified the target, that is, the orphanage, to be robbed.

He said the suspects, allegedly armed with four assorted pistols and a shot gun and a car jack, travelled in pairs to meet Maffiah at Obosomase, near Aburi.

According to Mr Darkwah, the suspects, about 12:30 a.m. on August 25, 2013 moved from their hideout, an uncompleted building, to the orphanage.

Upon reaching the orphanage, he said, the suspects scaled the six-foot wall into the compound where Maffiah, for fear of being identified, took cover and also served as a guard.

He said with the help of the car jack, the suspects created an opening in one of the windows to facilitate their entry into the building.

Mr Darkwah claimed that in the course of the robbery, Kufuor raped one of the female caregivers at gunpoint.

According to him, Awitor also took the same victim to another room and had sex with her.

He said the gang Sellotaped the mouth of the female staff, assaulted them and later locked them up in separate rooms before escaping with their booty.

He said it was later that the victims managed to extricate themselves and called for assistance.

Mr Darkwah said a medical report had confirmed the assault on three female staff of the orphanage.

By Albert K. Salia/Daily Graphic/Ghana

Writer’s email: [email protected]

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