Two Students Charged for Allegedly Robbing Teacher at Gunpoint in Accra

Two university students have appeared before the Dansoman Circuit Court, facing charges of robbery and conspiracy to rob following a reported armed robbery of a teacher. The accused, identified as Joshua Kwabena Nyador and Wisdom Ayekple, have pleaded not guilty to the charges. According to the Ghana News Agency, two other accomplices, Toussant Afadolo and an individual named Stanley, remain at large.

Nyador, Ayekple, and the accomplices are accused of robbing a teacher, whose identity has been withheld, of two mobile phones — an iPhone XR and an iPhone 6 — at gunpoint. The alleged crime took place in Mempeasem, Accra. Following the robbery, the suspects are said to have withdrawn GHC175 from the complainant’s mobile money account.

In a further attempt to extort the victim, the suspects allegedly accessed the complainant’s Instagram account, downloaded her nude photos, and threatened to share them on social media if she did not pay GHC5,000. This led the complainant to report the incident to the police on August 17, 2024.

Nyador and Ayekple were subsequently arrested, with Nyador admitting to his involvement in the crime during police interrogation. He revealed that the stolen phones and a pistol had been sent to him by his schoolmates after the robbery. Additionally, Nyador admitted to threatening the victim with her personal photos in a bid to extort money.

The investigation also uncovered that Nyador had removed the victim’s SIM card from her phone and inserted it into three different mobile phones. Two of these phones were found to be registered in his name and his father’s name. Meanwhile, Ayekple denied participating in the robbery in his statement to the police.

Both accused students, who claimed to be level 200 students at the University of Ghana, have been granted bail in the sum of GHC1 million with two sureties, one of which must be justified. The case has been adjourned to November 25, 2024, as efforts continue to apprehend the other accomplices involved in the crime.