Robbery case involving three policemen being stalled

Koforidua, July 5, GNA- A victim of alleged robbery case by three policemen attached to the Koforidua District Police Station had accused the police of stalling investigations into the case in order to drop it.

The victim, Mr Phanuel Mordzifa, a staff of the Koforidua Regional Hospital who made the allegation to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Koforidua on Monday, claimed that he was attacked and robbed of his 350,000 cedis, and had to struggle with them to save his mobile phone from being taken away.

The Eastern Regional Police Commander, Mr. Vincent Kweku Dzakpata, who confirmed his knowledge of the complaint against the policemen said the police were investigating and later referred the GNA to the Koforidua District Crime Officer, Mr. Stephen Amoako, for the details of the story. When contacted, Mr. Amoako told the GNA that the suspected policemen had denied the story and it was left with the complainant to prove his case.

According to him, he once put a vehicle at the disposal of the complainant, Mr Mordzifa to take a police investigator to the place of incident to get a witness to the incident but he could not get any witness and so he is only waiting on Mordzifa to produce his witnesses.

Mr Amoako said he had been seeing Mr Mordzifa visiting the Koforidua Police Station on many occasions but he never came to him but only goes to see the District Commander and leave.

Mr. Mordzifa, however, denied that he had not been able to produce a witness to his case and accused Mr. Amoako of not showing "sufficient interest in pursuing the case."

He said the incident happened on March 8, 2004, when he was on his way to a public toilet at the foot of the Obuotabiri Mountains at Koforidua, around 17.30 hours.

Mr Mordzifa said he saw the three policemen in mufti standing at different positions on the way to the toilet and as he passed the last person, the man grabbed him without any provocation and tried to snatch his mobile phone from his breast pocket but before he could free himself the policeman was able to snatch 350,000 cedis from the breast pocket.

He said when he freed himself, he dashed towards a nearby house but as he was running away, the two other policemen tried to stop him but he managed to avoid them.

Mr Mordzifa said after narrating the story to the people in the house of the incident, they gathered at the entrance to see those who were involved but the three men had hidden themselves in the bush.

He said it was after sometime when the policemen realised that the people were not going into the house, they came out of the bush and the people hooted at them when they got close to the house, saying it was at that time that he was able to identify them well.

Mr Mordzifa said later, an old lady in the house gave him a pair of slippers, which he wore home and the following day he went to report the mater at the Koforidua Central Police Station.

He said while he was at the police charge office, he saw one of the suspects there and so he identified him to the policeman at the counter and when an officer was taking his statement, the second suspect also came in and he was able to identify him also.

The victim claimed that the two officers later identified their third colleague involved in the case to their superiors.

Mr Mordzifa said after his statement was taken, the police asked him to go and would be invited when they needed him but he realised that they were not showing much interest in the case and so he went to complain to the Attorney General's Office in Koforidua and was given an officer to accompany him to the Eastern Regional Commander of Police.

He said after listening to his complaint, the Regional Commander gave him a note to Mr Amoako.

Mr Amoako, he said, then released a vehicle and an investigator to take him to the scene of the incident and they met with the old lady who gave him the pair of sleepers and a statement was taken from her.

Mr Mordzifa said a few days later, a police driver called Mr Agbeko, came to see him at the Hospital and told him that the three policemen involved had admitted the offence and that they said they were afraid to admit it before their superior officers and so had sent him to bring 400,000 cedis and a pair of shoes to him to drop the case.

He said he told Mr Agbeko that before he would accept the cash and the shoes, he would like to have at least one witness from his office but Mr Agbeko refused and he said then Mr Agbeko should go and bring the three police men who attacked him before he would accept their offer. Mr Mordzifa said Mr Agbeko went away and had since not come back to see him, adding that he had reported that development also to the police authorities but nothing had so far been heard from them.