What started as a sim­ple act of assistance on a roadside turned into an elaborate theft that has hunted a Kumasi bread baker for months and ulti­mately land a 63-year-old man behind bars.

Oduro Zakaria, bread bak­er, never imagined that ac­cepting help from a stranger would cost him his livelihood. On that February morning in 2024, the hardworking baker had loaded his tricycle with 114 freshly baked loaves worth Gh₵1, 680, ready for his usual delivery to custom­ers at the Adehyeman lorry station.

As Zakaria navigated the busy Kumasi streets, his unregistered tricycle worth GH¢35,000, suddenly broke down. In that moment of vul­nerability, what seemed like divine intervention appeared in the form of Adamu Alhas­san.

“I’m a station master,” the 63-year-old trader assured the stranded baker. “Let me help you.”

Together, the two men pushed the heavy tricycle loaded with bread to the Kejetia MTN roundabout. Zakaria, grateful for the assistance, felt comfortable leaving his precious cargo in the care of his newfound helper while he searched for a mechanic.

“I thought I had met an an­gel,” Zakaria told friends. An hour later, when he returned with a mechanic, both his ‘angel’ and his entire liveli­hood had vanished into the bustling crowds of Kumasi.

The crushing realisation hit Zakaria like a thunder­bolt. His helper was neither a station master nor even a worker at the station. He had been expertly conned by a man who preyed on his moment of need.

For months, Zakaria searched the streets of Ku­masi, hoping against hope to spot either his tricycle or the man that stole his bread and tricycle.

On August 28, 2025, one and half years afterwards, fortune smiled on the baker. A witness spotted Alhassan at the very station where he had posed as an employee, and quickly alerted Zakaria.

Alhassan was arrested and handed over to the Ashanti Regional Anti-Armed Robbery Unit with his caution state­ment taken.

He confessed to selling Zakaria’s GH¢35,000 tricycle to a scrap dealer in Bremang for a measly GH¢700 – less than 2 per cent of its actual value.

The 114 loaves of bread? He had distributed them to random passers-by, per­haps in a twisted attempt to play the generous bene­factor with stolen goods.

On September 12, the Kwa­daso Circuit Court, presided over by Mr Jephthah Appau, sentenced Alhassan to five years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to theft.

Police Chief Inspector Da­vid Opoku Kwabi, presenting the facts, painted a picture of calculated deception that exploited human kindness and trust.

For Zakaria, the sentence brings some closure, but it cannot restore the months of hardship he endured or the innocence lost in trusting a stranger’s offer of help.

Alhassan’s five-year sen­tence reflects not just the monetary value of what he stole, but the breach of trust that makes communities question the safety of help­ing strangers – or accepting help from them, an opinion leader indicated.

He added: “Sometimes, the most devastating crimes are not commit­ted with weapons or violence, but with a smile and an offer to help.”

 From Kingsley E. Hope, Ku­masi