TWO ARRESTED FOR ROBBING BUSINESSMAN (BACK PAGE)

TWO suspected armed robbers who allegedly attacked and robbed a businessman of his GH¢6,000 in daylight at Brekuso in the Eastern Region have been arrested by the Koforidua Police.
The suspects, Kofi Asiedu, 29, and Ismaila Mohammed, 26, were said to have attacked Mr Samuel Bruce Peprah, 59, in the middle of a road at Brekuso and taken away his bag containing the amount and a mobile phone.
They reportedly pursued the businessman and his driver from Koforidua to Brekuso, using an Opel Vectra taxi to overtake their car, with registration number GT 524 F, heading towards Accra.
Right in the middle of the road, the two, including another accomplice who is on the run, rushed out of the taxi, with registration number GT 6327 S, and pulled out a machete, which they used to attack Mr Peprah before robbing him.
That was after the 45-year-old driver of the businessman, Eric Kwofie, was alleged to have deliberately slowed down to enable the vehicle of the robbers to overtake theirs.
The robbers, residents of Okorase near Koforidua, were first reported to have attacked the businessman to demand the money, while his driver whom he had worked with for the past six years stood by his master’s truck unconcerned.
Narrating the incident to the Daily Graphic, Mr Peprah said on July 8, 2009, he called his driver, Kwofie, also a resident of Okorase, to accompany him to Accra to purchase roofing sheets.
He said when they reached Brekuso, Kwofie slowed down during which the taxi, which was at top speed, overtook and crossed them right in the middle of the road at about 1.30 p.m.
One of the robbers, whose name was only given as Diggy, pulled out a machete and attempted to slash his right hand but he swerved and for fear of being killed he willingly gave out the bag containing the money and his mobile phone to Diggy.
He indicated that another robber also attacked his driver and demanded his mobile phone after which they sped off in the taxi.
Mr Peprah said soon after the robbers had left, a friend of his who was travelling from Aburi to Accra on the same stretch of road, arrived at the scene and he narrated to him the ordeal he had gone through.
He said he and the friend pursued the robbers at top speed in the friend’s four-wheel drive but their efforts proved futile after which he went back to Koforidua.
According to him, it was the following day, July 9, 2009, that his wife informed him that there were rumours speculating in town that his driver, Kwofie, orchestrated the robbery operation.
He, therefore, reported the matter to the New Juaben Municipal Police Command.
Corroborating the narration of the businessman, the New Juaben Municipal Police Commander, Superintendent John A. Naami, said about 1.30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 8, 2009, police intelligence gathered that some armed robbers who had robbed a businessman at Brekuso were sharing the booty in a house at Okorase.
Immediately, a team of policemen were dispatched to the area, where after thorough investigations they succeeded in apprehending two of the robbers and Kwofie, but Diggy managed to escape arrest.
The police then retrieved GH¢4,700 out of the GH¢6,000 and two mobile phones they took from the businessman.
Superintendent Naami said further investigations into the case had revealed that the driver of the businessman informed his accomplices of his master’s movement from Koforidua through Brekuso to Accra.
During interrogations, Asiedu and Mohammed told the police that Kwofie, who claimed that he was not well paid by his master, sought their assistance to rob Mr Peprah, whom he described as "frail and easy to be robbed".