The seven individuals, including a military person, who allegedly hijacked a fuel tanker carrying 54,000 litres of diesel valued at GH¢769,500 have been remanded.
The suspects were arraigned before the Accra Circuit Court, presided over by His Honour Samuel Bright Acquah.
The judge remanded them into police custody.
The accused are Cpl. Bortey Bernard, a serving soldier at the Teaching and Doctrine College of the Ghana Armed Forces; Mark Abito, a fuel tanker driver; Ganiu Abdulai, a driver; Atiiga Banabas, unemployed; and tanker driver’s mates Awini Ibrahim, Muniru Ayebo, and Shaibu Adams.
Four other suspects, including Raphael Amartey and a man identified as Arhin, remain at large.
All seven accused pleaded not guilty to various charges, including conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery, kidnapping, and abetment of robbery.
On August 6, the group reportedly hijacked the tanker at gunpoint in the Eastern Region, commandeered it to a fuel station, and transferred the diesel into another truck.
The driver and his mate were abducted but later managed to raise an alarm, leading to the arrest of Corporal Bortey Bernard and five others.
The incident occurred at about 12:30 a.m. when officers at the Ablekuma Borkorborkor checkpoint in Accra stopped a green pickup truck carrying three passengers in its open bucket.
As the police approached, two of the passengers fled, shouting that they had been attacked by armed men who had hijacked their fuel tanker near Nsawam the previous night.
The driver of the pickup sped off, abandoning the third passenger, who was arrested after a brief chase.
According to police details, both tanker drivers from Tema were handcuffed and transported in the pickup by the suspects until the intervention at the checkpoint.
They later confirmed the stolen tanker’s registration as GT 2493–20. Following this lead, police intelligence led to the arrest of six additional suspects at Asikwa Junction near Bunso in the Eastern Region.
Officers there recovered the stolen tanker, another tanker with registration GN 804–13, and a pumping machine believed to have been used to transfer the stolen fuel.
A Volkswagen Golf (GW 5185–Z) linked to the suspects was also seized.
The seven suspects include Corporal Bortey Bernard, Mark Abito, 34; Shaibu Adams, 27; Awini Ibrahim, 25; Muniru Ayeba, 19; Banabas Atiga, 26; and Abdullah Ganiu, 32.
Two fuel tankers, a pumping machine, and a Golf car with registration number GW 5185-Z were impounded.
The accused are to reappear on August 25, 2025, while police continue the search for the remaining suspects.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
