Tema Cabbie Killer Gets 50 Years

Francis Sackey
FRANCIS AKPANYA Sackey, the private security man who was apprehended for robbing and killing a taxi driver at the Cemetery Road near Bankuman, a suburb of Tema New-Town, has been jailed 50 years by the Tema Circuit Court 'A'.

The 28-year-old convict, who resides at Manhean near Tema New-Town in the Greater Accra Region, was said have gunned down Edward Jojo Acquah, a 28-year-old taxi driver and student of Data Link University College, and made away with his Honda Civic taxi cab with registration number GE 3532 X.

He pleaded guilty with explanation to two charges of possessing firearm without lawful authority and robbery and was sentenced to 50 years on each count but both would run concurrently.

Locally Manufactured Pistol
The convict explained to the court, presided over by Lydia Osei-Marfo, with Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Stanley Dzakpasu as the prosecutor, that he embarked on robbery in the Tema metropolis in order to get some money to cater for his family after losing his job.

According to Akpanya Sackey, he never intended to shoot the driver but his hand unintentionally pulled the trigger which fired a shot at him.

He added that the locally manufactured pistol he used for the unlawful operation was given to him by an ex-military officer about three years ago but the court did not pay heed to his explanation and sentenced him on his own plea.

Duplicate Docket
Meanwhile, the police have again prepared a duplicate docket which has been forwarded to the Attorney General's office for advice on a provisional charge of murder against the convict.

Information gathered by DAILY GUIDE indicated that the convict was sacked recently by the Pioneer Food Company in Tema New-Town where he was working as a private security man after he had involved himself in a robbery incident at the Cans Fish Company.

Sackey was arrested by the Tema Regional Police Patrol Team at Kpone junction at about 2:00am on October 1, 2014 while he was driving a taxi cab.

After the robbery, the private security officer replaced the original number plate of the vehicle with another registration number - GT 8733 Q.

Police personnel suspected the taxi to have been stolen when they noticed it had a number plate at the front but none at the rear.

The demeanour of the driver made the police to conduct a further search on the car, which revealed one locally manufactured pistol, two live cartridges, one sharp knife and one BBL multimedia subwoofer system.

Other items found in the taxi were one portable DVD player, two pairs of military camouflage shorts and two screw drivers. He was immediately apprehended and sent to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Tema Regional Police Command for further interrogation when he could not give any reason for possessing those items.

On the same day at about 7:00am, police received information that a dead body had been found on the Tema Manhean cemetery road which links Kpone to the town (Manhean).

Police went to the scene and a search on the body revealed a driver's licence, two Zenith Bank ATM cards and Data Link University ID cards bearing the name Edward Jojo Acquah, aged 28.

One Ms Anita Aklamamu called at the Regional Police Command and identified the taxi as belonging to her and the deceased as the driver she had employed to drive the vehicle.

She told the police that the original number of the vehicle was GE 3532 X and not the GT 8733 Q found on it at the time of the arrest.

From Vincent Kubi, Tema