Photo: Kofi Owusu Ansah and Kwabena Oppong
A KUMASI circuit court presided over by Ekow Mensah has sentenced the two gangsters who were apprehended barely a fortnight ago for allegedly raping a woman and her daughter at gunpoint during a robbery in Kumasi to 46 years’ imprisonment in hard labour.
The convicts, Kwabena Oppong aka Cobi and Kofi Owusu Ansah, nicknamed Nana Ba, who went into hiding for several months after committing the crime, were jailed 23 years each on the charges of conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery.
Meanwhile, there were indications that state prosecutors led by Chief Superintendent Emmanuel Akunnor would prefer an additional charge of rape against them in the next few days.
The arrest of the armed robbers purportedly brought some relief to the traumatised victims (names withheld) and their families at Gyinyase, a suburb of Kumasi where the incident took place.
Police suspected Kwabena Oppong and Kofi Owusu Ansah to be part of a three-man heavily armed robbery gang led by one Kevin Adjei Frimpong – already in custody – who allegedly attacked the victims on August 11, 2014.
In a previous briefing, police told the media that Kevin was picked up on November 4, 2014 when he was spotted at Amakom in Kumasi and had since been in prison custody upon court order on charges of robbery and sexual assault.
But the two convicts were arrested at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on October 14, 2015 for stealing and were handed over to the regional police command.
They were arraigned after the victims identified them during a special identification parade organised by the police. The convicts admitted the offence and corroborated their association with Kevin during interrogation.
Source: James Quansah, Kumasi I Daily Guide
