Police Hunt For CCTV Camera Thieves in Bamma-Ayikai Doblo

Police investigators of the Ghana Police Service Criminal Investigative Department (CID) Headquarters in Accra have launched a manhunt for fourteen (14) thugs, including two armed soldiers, for allegedly stealing four closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, installed on a site to monitor an ongoing factory building project on a legally acquired and registered land at Bamma-Ayikai Doblo community in the Ga West Municipality of the Greater Accra Region.

According to information available to this news outlet, the thugs, who committed this crime, were led by one Mr James Laryea Ashia, who claims to be the Principal Attorney for Nii Adama Pataku Family Lands in Ayikai Doblo Bamma.

The stealing of the video surveillance cameras, our reporter gathered, happened amidst warning shots by the thugs who are believed to be working for Mr Ashia.

The hunt for the suspects by the police, the news portal learnt, follows an official report lodged with the CID headquarters by the owner of the factory project, Mr Bless Dosoo, on Wednesday, May 18, 2021, that around 9:00 a.m., some gun-wielding thugs, numbering about fourteen, stormed the site and took way the four CCTV cameras.

Besides stealing the four CCTV cameras, the visibly distraught Bless Dosoo stated in his police statement that the thugs threatened the lives of his workers.

He added that they completely stopped his workers from working on the project when they stormed the site to carry their barbaric operation on Wednesday, May 18, 2021.

However, a visit by this reporter to the site to ascertain the veracity of the matter confirmed that four CCTV cameras had been removed from the site and its wires totally disconnected. 

Our reporter further observed that the power supply to the sit had been cut ostensibly to prevent these thugs from being captured by the CCTV cameras before carrying out their nefarious operation.

Narrating the story further in an interview with soireenews, Mr Dosoo stated that around 10:00 a.m., while he was at the premises of the Lands Commission in Accra, he received distress calls from his workers that Mr Ashia has brought some gun-wielding people who gave the warning shots to threaten their lives and subsequently took away four CCTV cameras on site. 

According to him, the thugs also warned and threatened his workers to stop developing the land he genuinely and legally acquired from the elders of Ayikai-Doblo Stool and registered with the Lands Commission in Accra.

He pointed out that after "l received the strange calls "l rushed to the Police CID Headquarters to lodge an official report on the matter."

In this regard, he appealed to the police to ensure that the perpetrators were arrested and prosecuted.

According to Mr Dosoo, it is on record in Ayikai Doblo Bamma community that "Mr Ashia is more than a terror by way of even beating police officers and individual land developers with their workers on the lands in the area without recourse to the laws of the country."

"Mr Ashia is killing and shooting individual land developers with guns all over the area.

"So I don't think that it is not proper for Mr Ashia to be allowed by the national security agencies to continue to exhibit such heinous crimes and be walking freely in the area. And the police too are entertaining that, so this is very bad and dangerous," Mr Dosoo angrily stated.

Meanwhile, police investigators with the CID headquarters have confirmed Soireenews that a complaint had been brought against Mr Ashia and his hired thugs.

They added that the police were seriously looking for Mr Ashia together with his men, who were currently at large.

However, sources close to the CID headquarters have revealed that this was not the first time Mr Ashia had hired the services of thugs to terrorise land developers on their lands at Bamma-Ayikai Doblo.

Our sources disclosed that since his return from Nigeria, Mr Ashia has been using land-guards and soldiers and police officers to terrorise land developers in the community.

Mr Ashia, according to the sources, is alleged to be responsible for the many chaotic scenes in Bamma Ayikai Doblo.

The sources called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to warn the police at Amasaman, Accra Police Headquarters and Airport Police District Commands to stop supporting Mr Ashia and his criminal activities.

They alleged that a team of police officers from the Ghana Police Service Headquarters, a couple of months ago, was hired by Mr Ashia to unlawfully attack workers of land developers.

According to them, the police officers recently came to the site with two Ghana Police Service Toyota pick-up vehicles with registration numbers: GP4639, ash colour, and GP 4652, black colour, and upon alighting, amidst holding pump-action guns started destroying foundations of building structures.

The sources also recounted that Mr Ashia, together with five suspected land-guards, were arrested on the premises of Amanman District Police Command on Friday, March 19, 2021, for committing various offences which were an affront to the laws of this country.

The other arrested persons were Oto Rasta, aka Kpakpotse, Nii Amposah and two women whose names were not identified as of the time of filing this report.

The arrest of these persons have been captured in a short video which is in possession of this reporter.

The video shows how these culprits were arrested on Friday, March 19, 2021, by the police at Amasaman, and when they consequently took the law into their hands and fought police officers at Amasaman District Police Command.

According to reports, the suspected land guards were invited to the police station following a complaint lodged by some individual land developers and organisations against them that they (acting on the direct orders of Mr James Laryea Ashia) had unlawfully destroyed their building structures.

However, the affected landowners alleged that Mr Ashia has engaged the services of these notorious land guards led by Nii Rasta, aka Kpakpotse, to demolish all building structures in the area.