ROBBER JAILED 50 YEARS (PAGE 46, NOV 17, 2010)

A KUMASI Circuit Court has convicted Yusif Sumaila, alias Kalia, for two cases of robbery and sentenced him to 50 years’ imprisonment with hard labour.
Two other robbers, Adams Nurudeen and Suraj Sulemana, were jailed 15 years each.
The first robbery was committed by Sumaila and Sulemana while the other was by Sumaila and Nurudeen.
Passing judgement, the judge, Mr Emmanuel Lodo, warned that he would not hesitate to hand armed robbers stiff sentences to keep them out of society for a long period when they appeared before him.
He noted that the fight against armed robbery should not be the concern of the security agencies alone but also the judiciary.
The judge further remarked that there had been an upsurge in armed robbery in recent times perpetrated mostly by the youth.
He advised the youth to find something meaningful to do or have themselves to blame if they engaged in armed robbery.
In the first case, the court was told that at about 2:30a.m. on August 8, 2010, one Mustapha Mohammed, who was the complainant, was walking with his girlfriend from the Asafo Neoplan Station in Kumasi towards Amakom.
On reaching the roundabout near Ahmadiyya Mosque, Sulemana, riding a motorbike with registration number GR 9502 V, with Sumaila as the pillion rider, pulled up near them.
Armed with a locally made pistol and a machete, the robbers attacked the complainant with their weapons and succeeded in robbing him of 200 Naira cash, CFA 15,000, GH¢764 and a Nokia mobile phone valued at GH¢58, and sped off.
According to the prosecution, on August 11 the complainant spotted Sulemana riding the same motorbike at the Race Course area in Kumasi.
He raised alarm and, with the assistance of some people, arrested him. Sulemana in turn mentioned Sumaila as his accomplice.
Sumaila was identified after he was arrested in another robbery case.
In the other case, the prosecutor said on August 20, 2010, one Ebenezer Boateng, the complainant in the case, was walking to Kejetia to look for a vehicle to Tafo.
An Urvan mini-bus arrived and as the complainant was about to board the vehicle, Sumaila and Nurudeen confronted him at the door.
Sumaila, who held a locally manufactured pistol, ordered the complainant to keep quiet and surrender his belongings.
For fear of his life, he let go his Nokia mobile phone. Immediately after the attack, Boateng made a report to the police patrol team, who managed to arrest Nurudeen at Kejetia.
A knife was found on him during a search and he mentioned Sumaila as his accomplice. Sumaila was arrested on the same day at the Race Course.
A locally made pistol and one live cartridge were found in a small bag hanging across his chest. He also produced the Nokia phone taken from the complainant.