The Asamankese Circuit Court presided over by His Honour Abubakari Adams Abass has sentenced a 24-year-old man, Benjamin Kofi Larbi, who hired a taxi cab from Kumasi and ended up snatching the cab to Asamankese to 25 years imprisonment in hard labor.
His accomplices, Stephen Kofi Gyamfi, 22, believed to be the ringleader; Kofi Richard, 20, and Kelvin Asante pleaded not guilty and were remanded in police custody to reappear on 31st March, 2021.
They were arrested on Wednesday evening at Wasabiampa near Akroso in the region.
According to the police, the ringleader was the person that hired the Toyota Yaris taxi cab with the registration number AS 1869-20 from a hotel, in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional Capital, to Nsawam in the Eastern Region, claiming he was going to inspect his farm.
The Deputy Eastern Regional Police Spokesman, Sgt. Francis Gomado, said the taxi driver, upon reaching Suhum, was ordered by the ringleader to pick the three accomplices.
He said the suspects then directed the driver to take the Asamankese road towards the Akroso direction and branched to a village called Wasabiampa on the Akroso road.
In the process, the suspects asked the driver to stop the car near a bush path but the victim told the suspects he wanted to attend nature’s call and he quickly dashed into the bush.
According to the police when the driver returned, the suspects pounced on him and attacked him with sticks.
The victim then managed to escape with the help of an ‘Okada’ rider, who rushed him to the nearby police checkpoint at Adiembra whereby they traced the suspects and got them arrested at Wasabiampa with the assistance of the locals.
The suspects were later paraded at the Asamankese Police Station together with the Taxicab and were locked up after writing their statements.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com
