Sunyani: Police arrest eight for assaulting 21-year-old man during alleged 'sakawa' initiation at Kotokrom

The Ghana Police Service has arrested eight men accused of assaulting a 21-year-old man during an alleged initiation into an internet fraud syndicate at Kotokrom in the Sunyani West Municipality of the Bono Region.

The Bono Regional Police Command said the suspects were arrested on October 4 after its Regional Operations Unit received a distress call about a group of people attacking a man in the community.

According to a statement dated Friday, October 9, responding officers found the victim, identified as Godstime Umukoro, with multiple marks of assault on his body. The officers subsequently arrested the eight suspects at the scene.

The suspects have been named as Peter Mbam, 24; Godwin Moses, 26; Humble Oweifah, 18; Osas Ogbemudia, 30; Samuel Aisosa, 22; Ashile Godbess, 24; Alexander Uyuo, 30; and Patrick Romans, 25.

Police investigations indicate that the suspects admitted to beating Mr Umukoro as part of his initiation into the alleged internet fraud operation. They reportedly told investigators that they had undergone a similar process themselves.

The command further disclosed that preliminary investigations had established that the suspects were brought to Ghana by a man identified as Nwachukwu King Augustine, whom the police described as the group's chairman.

Investigators also suspect the group of using images downloaded from the internet showing foreign military personnel to defraud unsuspecting individuals. The suspects allegedly posed as military personnel serving on the front lines in Yemen, built relationships with their targets through online conversations and solicited money from them.

The police said money allegedly obtained from the victims was paid into an account belonging to the group's suspected leader.

The Bono Regional Police Command has commended members of the public for their intervention and reiterated its commitment to working with residents to combat crime across the region.