…Says He was on Admission When He was Taken Out & Killed
More controversy is emerging, with the latest coming from the family of the late police officer, Lance Corporal Stephen Kwaku Nyame, who was killed together with Constable Reindolph Ansah in connection with the bullion van robberies, has said they are uninformed about the death of their beloved.
According to a brother, Richard Nyame, the Ghana Police Service administration, has not formally written to inform the deceased family, following the incident, but an expert who is familiar with the workings of the Police Service, has asked that the family hires the services of a competent lawyer to pursue the case for the slain policeman’s relatives.
Earlier, The Herald had picked up reports from some residents of Borteyman that, they only saw a fleet of cars belonging to Ghana Police Service, including ambulances driving through their area, but they never heard any gunshot or exchange of gunfire as being suggested by the police that the dead officers engaged in an open gun battle with the instigators and got killed.
“So, on Thursday, we proceeded to the Police and were later directed to the department of the Director General of Police Welfare but he told us he is unaware of the development so he’s yet to be informed of the incident” he told Accra-based Angel FM.
He added that his brother was on admission in hospital after sustaining severe injuries while riding a motorbike, and was also treating another illness.
The two according to a Police Statement issued by the Public Affair Department and signed by Kwasi Ofori, were shot dead on the evening of Monday, March 7, 2022 in an exchange of gunshots during a raid at Borteyman near Ashaiman.
This was after they were armed and taken to the area in the name of helping to arrests other accomplices of the bullion van robberies, which led to the murder of one of their colleagues also from the Police Headquarters; Constable Emmanuel Osei.
The expert suggested that Lance Corporal Stephen Kwaku Nyame and Constable Reindolph Ansah, might have been executed to hide something sinister in the police service and that to the best of his estimation, the two might not be common criminals.
He added that, an independent enquiry by the Ministry of Interior, could establish how true the claims of Mr Kwasi Ofori’s statement that they were killed during an exchange of gunshots is, adding an autopsy by officials of the Police Hospital might not be independent enough.
The expert, raised a number of questions, including the whereabouts of the bodies, whether they were shot from front, behind or from the front part of their body. The expert also wanted to know the type of gun used to kill them, whether or not the empty shells were fetched and can be produced.
Richard Nyame, revealed this on Anopa Bofoↄ morning show, while expressing his shock and how the family is yet to come to terms with the news of his biological brother’s demise.
The late Constable Reindolph Ansah and Lance Corporal Stephen Kwaku Nyame, according to the police, had earlier been arrested in connection with some multiple bullion van robberies in the Greater Accra Region.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Richard Nyame, said ever since the incident happened and nearing a week, they have not been informed about the “sad incident” but received the news in a hearsay.
“It was on Tuesday that we heard the occurrence of the unfortunate news, in fact we were shocked to hear that our brother who was on admission had been shot dead. So, since we were surprised, the family decided to wait for the police to call any family member and lodged an official complain but we didn’t hear anything from them for the whole of Wednesday, March 9, 2022”
The brother of the deceased, however, disclosed that his late brother was on admission since December 2021 and was unfit let alone returning to duties after he had sustained injuries through a motorcycle accident before later being diagnosed with another illness such as Typhoid.
He added that, it was at that admission period when he was accused as a suspect involved in the multiple bullion van robberies in some part Greater Accra Region.
Richard Nyame, disclosed that the Nyame family, sees the death of their son as “bizarre” and is thus demanding the body of the deceased and also answers from the police administration, because they could not fathom the story behind his death.
Also, he served notice that they have given the Ghana Police Service by close of March 14, 2022 to formally inform the family of the demise of their beloved with explanations else they will take the Police Service on.
He declared that, late Corporal Stephen Nyame was neither a suspect nor a criminal as claimed by the populace but was just an accused by fellow officer known as ‘Pablo’ until his saddened death.
Additional details forked out from the Police service by The Herald is that, Constable Reindorf Gyimah Ansah with service number; 58284, was part of a police protocol recruitment exercise done immediately Nana Akufo-Addo government took over the reins of the country in 2017.
The service numbers of four other police officers arrested in connection with the bullion van robberies after police investigations, show they belong to the same intake recruited under a special arrangement which was not published in the newspapers as required.
The four policemen turned suspects are; Constable Affisu Yaro Ibrahim with service number 58370, Constable Richard Boadu with service 58355, Constable Rabiu Jambedu with service number 58525, Constable Albert Ofosu with service number 58586.
It is not clear, which intake Lance Corporal Stephan Kwaku Nyame with service number 53549, described as the best police recruit in his batch, belonged to. But videos of him passing out at the Tesano police depot and being awarded and congratulated by the now retired Inspector General of Police, David Asante Appiatu, have since gone viral.
They are believed to be relatives of members of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), and the current development that they, including one Razak Alhassan, a civilian, are members of the bullion van robbers, have sent tongues wagging within the police service.
The Herald is informed that, after their passing out, they were sent to the National SWAT team at the Police Headquarters in Accra together with Constable Emmanuel Osei, whom they shot in the head in June, last year at Jamestown – Accra in an area called Adedenkpo.
All they knew each other very well and called themselves friends as they belonged to the same police unit. Constable Osei, is said to have identified his killer and called him by his name, hence had to be silenced through death.
The police robbers also killed a mother of three, 40-year-old Joyce Amankwah, when they shot into her shop in Adedenkpo.
Senior police officers The Herald spoke with, demanded to know how the rogues were recruited into the police service, who did the recruitment, who compiled their list, how competitive was the recruitment exercise and where were they trained?
Such concerns have been shared by Foreign Policy and Security Analyst, Adib Saani, who has questioned incidents leading to the death of two policemen.
Adib Saani, has indicated that circumstances surrounding their deaths are questionable “and some people are conjecturing that some top officers in the police service were involved in the crime. Because they feared the arrested persons would give out information to their arrests, they killed them.”
According to him, the information given by the police on their deaths does not make sense. “I read the statement repeatedly to make sure I was getting everything right but it doesn’t stick. It is a non-starter,” he told Don Kwabena Prah on Happy98.9FM’s Epa Hoa Daben political talk show.
From the security point of view, he posited that a suspect in custody, should ideally be in handcuffs and not be actively involved in a raid.
“All they needed to do was to point out other suspects and it doesn’t make sense that they were the only two who died.”
Meanwhile, security and safety analyst, Dr Kaziyiri Adam Bonaa, has called for a review of processes in the recruitment into the country’s security services.
Dr Bonaa, has also asked for thorough background checks to be conducted on all persons recruited into the police service over the last 10 years.
Meanwhile, the four Police Officers; General Constables Yaro Afisu Ibrahim, Albert Ofosu, aka Cypher, Richard Boadu, aka Osor and Rabiu Jambedu and one Razak Alhassan aka Zak, a civilian, have appeared before an Accra Circuit Court over the bullion van robberies.
They have been charged with an attempt to commit crime and abetment of crime namely robbery but the Court did not take their pleas and remanded them into lawful custody to reappear on March 28, 2022.
Counsel for General Constable Albert Ofosu, aka Cypher, prayed for bail for him, but it was declined after prosecution had opposed it, saying if the accused was granted bail, he might not appear to stand trial and that the Police were still conducting investigations into the case.
Prosecuting Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sylvester Asare told the Court presided over by Mrs Patricia Amponsah that four of the accused persons were Police Officers and Alhassan, a scrap dealer.
Prosecution said in the year 2021, the Ghana Police Service Administration recorded a series of street robberies as well as attacks on bullion vans.
It said the Service mounted surveillance on the suspected robbers undertaking these unlawful activities within the capital.
Prosecution said that on February 22, 2022, the Police received a report of an attack on an bullion van with Registration number GN 424-14 at North Kaneshie, a suburb of Accra, by some gunmen.
It said the Police commenced investigation into the alleged robbery which led to the arrest of Constable Reindolph Gyimah Ansah alias Pablo (deceased) who admitted the offence during interrogation.
Prosecution said further enquiries led to the arrest of Lance Corporal Stephen Nyame (also deceased) and the accused person herein.
It said the accused persons during interrogation, admitted to have taken part in the multiple Bullion Van robberies recorded in the Greater Accra Region, including the robbery in February 2021 at Kingsway opposite the Freemason Society, Baastona-Spintex in March 2021, Jamestown Adedemkpo incident in June 2021 which led to the untimely death of Police Constable Emmanuel Osei.
Prosecution said during investigation, the late Lance Corporal Stephen Nyame and Constable Reindolph Gyimah Ansah mentioned two Nigerians, including Omor Naija as accomplices currently on the run and that some of the weapons used in the robberies were with their Nigerian accomplices around Ashaiman.
It said on March 6, 2022, the late Lance Corporal Stephen Nyame and Constable Reindolph Gyimah Ansah led the Police to a suburb of Ashaiman to apprehend the said two Nigerians.
Prosecution said the Ashaiman operation or raid resulted in a shootout, leading to the death of Lance Corporal Nyame and Constable Gyimah. It said the investigation continues.
