The Circuit Court in Bolgatanga has remanded a popular small-scale miner in the Upper East Region, Zongdan Boyak Kolog, popularly known as Polo, into police custody for his alleged involvement in various crimes, including threatening to kill a chief.
Polo was arrested along with some armed bandits he had reportedly hired from Bawku to help him fight for and protect a mining concession in Gbane in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region.
Among the six persons standing trial for their alleged roles in what onlookers described as a horror encounter marked by sporadic daylight gunfire that sent people running for their lives in the bustling mining community of Gbane is Baba-Yaro Zumah, a self-acclaimed anti-corruption fighter in Bolgatanga.
The other accused persons are Atta Yin-Mason, Yussif Mbelma (a trader), Moro Razak (also a trader), and Belba Abdulai, an unemployed resident of Bawku. The court remanded Polo and three of the accused persons into police custody.
The Facts as Presented by Police Prosecutors:
According to police prosecutors, Zongdan Boyak Kolog, aka Polo, mobilized the other suspects and transported them to the mining site to issue a warning to some town folks currently mining in an area he claims as his concession.
In what appeared to be a stern warning, not only to the young men working at the site but also to the Chief of the area, Naba Zoarezug Tiibaalug Kumbangkpem, Polo allegedly accused the Chief of granting permission to the locals to mine on the concession.
Prosecutors told the court that Polo threatened to shoot and kill anyone found on the concession, including beheading the Chief and the Tindaana of the area if they dared to step foot on the litigated land. The threat was reportedly reaffirmed by suspect Baba-Yaro Zumah, who had accompanied Polo on that mission.
It further emerged in court that on January 26, 2025, the suspects, now armed, returned to Gbane, seemingly intent on carrying out their threats.
Prosecutors told the court that the suspects fired gunshots sporadically from a Range Rover SUV, creating fear and panic among the townspeople, who abandoned their businesses and fled for safety.
The gunfire from the speeding Range Rover SUV reportedly resulted in injuries to one of the suspects, who was later taken to the hospital after their arrest by the police.
Contained in the brief facts presented by prosecutors was an incredible account of how the Upper East Regional Police Commander, DCOP Raymond Adofiem, personally sped off in his official vehicle to effect the gang’s arrest.
It emerged that the suspects were trailed by the police from Gbane, where they had caused public fear and panic by firing gunshots in what seemed like a daylight robbery attack.
A team of police officers attempted to intercept the suspects by setting up a barricade at BOST in Bolgatanga to stop the Range Rover SUV being driven by Polo and his allies.
However, in a daring move, the suspects refused to stop and rammed through the barricade with their vehicle. Upon receiving the latest report from his officers on the ground, a shocked Regional Police Commander hurriedly drove his vehicle to block a section of the main Tamale-Bolgatanga Road near the police headquarters, successfully intercepting the suspects’ vehicle.
The suspects were arrested, and a search of their vehicle led to the retrieval of one Mossberg Pump Action Rifle and one NP22 Foreign Pistol with 45 live rounds of 9mm ammunition.
In total, five charges were brought against the suspects, including; threat of death; possession of firearms and ammunition without authority; discharging guns in town; disturbing public peace and resisting arrest and rescue.
This latest criminal trial involving the popular small-scale miner follows a 2022 case in which he, along with six others, was arrested and arraigned before the High Court in Bolgatanga for his alleged involvement in the deaths of two individuals who were branded as witches at Yameriga in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region.
Source: Ghanaweb
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