The prosecution in the trial of the man accused of robbing the wife of former Vice-President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, Matilda Yaaba Amissah-Arthur, and other high profile personalities has filed disclosures and witness statements in a bid to begin the trial of the accused person.
The prosecution, led by a Senior State Attorney, Nana Ama Adinkra, notified the court about the documents, requesting more time to file more. Meanwhile, the accused, Yahuza Osumanu, who pleaded not guilty to 26 counts of robbery and money laundering at the court, presided over by Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, has been denied bail.
The case has been adjourned to June 6, this year.
Facts
Narrating the facts of the case, the prosecutor said during the second quarter of last year, the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service received several complaints of residential robberies perpetuated by a single armed man around Airport, Cantonments, Tesano and Ridge.
She said on September 17, 2023, a complainant, Augustine Okere, reported to the Airport Police that at about 2:30 a.m. that day, his residence at Kaeela Court Apartments, Airport Residential Area, had been robbed.
On receipt of the complaint, the state attorney said a team of police personnel from the Airport Police Division was dispatched to the crime scene. The complainant told the police that the accused person entered his room, pointed a pistol at him and demanded money and other valuables.
He was robbed of two Rolex wristwatches valued at $38,000, $23,000, GH¢2,000 and £3,500. On September 19, last year, the owner of the Kaeela Courts Apartments furnished the police with a pen drive which contained CCTV footage of the accused person.
On December 4, last year, the police received other distress calls from two complainants that they had been robbed. Ms Ansah said the accused fled the scene before a team of police arrived.
The complainants told the police that the accused person pointed a pistol at them and succeeded in robbing them of their Cartier wristwatch, an iPhone and cash running into hundreds of dollars.
The prosecution told the court that CCTV footages on the premises were obtained and reviewed.
Vice-President’s wife
On December 5, last year, the Tesano Police received information at about 4 a.m. that Mrs Amissah-Arthur had been robbed. Again, the robber fled the scene before the police arrived.
The police were told that the suspect was wielding a gun and threatened to kill his victim if she did not comply with his instructions. Aside from the money he made away with, the accused allegedly also bolted with a gold watch valued at GH¢20,000 and necklaces valued at GH¢5,000.
“The accused person also assaulted the wife of the late former Vice-President by strangling her and hitting her head repeatedly on the ground, while demanding more booty. Mrs Amissah-Arthur lost consciousness momentarily and when she regained consciousness the accused person had left with her safe and the booty,” the prosecutor told the court.
The Chief State Attorney said Mrs Amissah-Arthur placed a call to the police guard on duty at her residence and asked him to be on the lookout for the accused. She further told the court that the guard spotted the accused person on the compound while he was trying to escape with the safe.
“He gave the accused a chase but the accused abandoned the safe and managed to escape,” the prosecutor said.
CCTV footages
The State Attorney further said the police obtained various CCTV footages from the crime scenes and reviewed them. “The accused person was identified in the CCTV footage as Yahuza Osumanu, who had been on the police radar for his involvement in a series of residential robberies at Cantonments, Airport Residential Area, Ridge and Tesano,” the prosecution said.
Ridge robbery
On December 11, the prosecutor added, the police patrol team received information about a robbery incident at Ridge and proceeded to the scene, where the victim reported that Osumanu robbed her at gunpoint, after ransacking her room and making away with luxury items.
Police initial assessment revealed that the accused person gained access into the house through the victim’s window in the kitchen, which was not properly locked, the prosecutor told the court.
After analysing the footage, the prosecutor said the police gathered that Osumanu, who lived at Dome Pillar 2, was the one carrying out those series of robberies.
