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The Ashaiman Circuit Court has granted a GH¢150,000 bail with three sureties, two of which must be justified to Ibrahim Abdul Rakib, one of the suspects arrested in connection with the killing of the 21-year-old soldier, Private Imoro Sherrif, in Zongo Laka in the Greater Accra Region.
Ibrahim Abdul Rakib, who has been charged with dishonestly receiving was among four accused persons who through their lawyers applied for bail at the Ashaiman Circuit Court on Tuesday, April 11, 2023
But it was only Rakib who secured bail on health grounds.
When the case was called on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, Abdul Fatawu Alhassan, the defence counsel for three out of the six accused persons including Rakib told the court that his client was battling a stomach ulcer and had been suffering in the police cells.
He, therefore, prayed the court to grant his client bail since the condition of his client could aggravate with time if not attended to.
The fifth accused person, Yussif Mohammed who was also charged with dishonestly receiving an item, was also represented by lawyer Ishahadu Mohammed whose application for bail was not granted.
Medical reasons
Superintendent Sylvester Asare, representing the prosecution, opposed the bail applications by pointing out that Ibrahim Abdul Rakib, along with the other suspects, had been in police custody at the Police Headquarters, which was in close proximity to the Police Hospital, and had never reported any health issues to the investigators.
As a result, he urged the court to deny bail and instead keep the suspects in custody with the assurance that they would receive medical attention.
After carefully considering the arguments presented by the lawyers for the four accused persons and taking into account the seriousness of the charges and potential punishments, Judge Simon Gaga decided not to grant bail.
However, in the case of Ibrahim Abdul Rakib, the court deemed it necessary to grant bail based on medical reasons.
The remaining five persons arrested in connection with the killing of Private Imoro Sherrif, a soldier, on March 4, at Ashaiman in the Greater Accra and charged with stealing, robbery and receiving of dishonest goods were however remanded in police custody.
They are Safianu Musah alias Dayorgu, Samuel Tetteh, alias Wiper, Abubakar Sadick, alias Birdman, Yussif Mohammed and Abdul Gafaru Abdul Karim.
They would reappear in court on April 25, 2023. The Court further ordered the Prosecution to file disclosures on or by April 25, 2023.
This was after the Prosecution had prayed the court to adjourn the case to enable them to advance investigations, which he said had gone far.
Superintendent Asare said in praying the court for adjournment said it was in the interest of justice and the safety of the accused persons that they remained in custody.
Second case
Meanwhile, Samuel Tetteh, alias Wiper, Abubakar Sadick, alias Birdman, who have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the same case will reappear appeared before the District Magistrate Court in Tema presided over by Benedicta Antwi on April 25, 2023, pending the advice from the office of the Attorney-General (A-G).
This was after the prosecutor, Superintendent Sylvester Asare, prayed the court to remand the suspects since they were awaiting advice from the office of the A-G.
Background
On March 4, 2023, police received information that a male adult had been found lying dead at Ashaiman Taifa in the Greater Accra Region.
According to the police, the crime scene team retrieved a number of items, including a knife with blood stains and a backpack, in the course of investigations.
In the backpack, police found one Samsung tablet, one Apple laptop, one military uniform with the name tag “Imoro”, eight other items of clothing, as well as a Ghana Card and a Health Insurance card bearing the name Imoro Sherrif.
The police said the content of the backpack suggested that the victim could be a soldier, so the military was notified of the incident, and the deceased was subsequently identified by the military as Imoro Sheriff, a soldier.
The prosecution said two of the accused persons attempted to rob the soldier, and in the process, one of them stabbed him in the arm, while the other four bought a stolen mobile phone taken from the soldier, now deceased.
