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Police grabbed 16 suspected criminals in Accra
Sixteen suspected individuals have been arrested by the Ghana Police Service (GPS) for their involvement in various criminal cases recorded in the capital city between November and December 2025.
Some of the criminal cases for which the suspects were arrested included daylight robbery, phone snatching, residential robbery, impersonation of a military officer, and arms dealing and disruption of illegal weapons supply.
The arrest of the suspects was confirmed by the Director General of the Criminal Investigative Department (CID) of the GPS, Commissioner of Police (COP) Lydia Yaako Donkor at a press briefing in Accra on Wednesday.
According to her, the suspects were arrested at their various hideouts after months of intelligence led and coordinated operations by the GPS.
She noted that one of the suspects was arrested in connection with a daylight robbery attack on a jewellery shop at Adabreka where an amount of GHC 7.5 million proceeds from a gold transaction was being conveyed to the bank while five were also arrested for their involvement in notorious phone snatching and armed robbery syndicates within Accra and Tema.
Additionally, COP Donkor said that eight of the suspects were also arrested for residential robbery in areas such as Airport residential area, Oyibi, and Spintex, where they made away with valuable items of the victims.
Furthermore, she noted that preliminary investigations and search carried out by the GPS led to the recovery of pistols, a pump action gun, AK47 assault rifles, helmets, cutlasses, boots, body armour vests, a military camouflage bag, a bayonet, Hauwai gota set, and a pair of handcuffs with serial number 46446.
COP Donkor said that Abdulai Ibrahim, the suspect involved in arms dealing and disruption of illegal weapons supply, had been trafficking firearms to the Northern Region.
According to her, the suspect was arrested at the point of transaction at Sodom and Gomorah in Accra, where he had directed a potential buyer of a CZ rifle to be sold at GHC 35,000.
She said that the suspect, during interrogation, disclosed that he previously purchased and transported seven pump action guns to individuals in Wulensi.
The suspect, COP Donkor, said that he sourced the weapons from an arms dealer who operated around UTC in Accra.
Additionally, she noted the CID had secured the conviction of Pergringo Braimah Abubakar Sadick, aged 54, for the unlawfully discharge of firearm in public.
This, COP Donkor said, was after the Adenta Circuit Court One, had revoked the firearm of the convict and ordered its confiscation the state.
She also reaffirmed the commitment of the GPS to enforce the law and ensure public safety by taking firm action on the unlawful use of firearms.
COP Donkor further urged the citizenry to surrender illegal firearms or unregistered firearms to the appropriate authorities, noting “the GPS will not relent in its effort to fight the proliferation of firearms. “
BY AGNES OPOKU SARPONG
The Managing Director of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Edmond Kombat, has outlined a major expansion drive to restore the refinery to full commercial operation.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series held at the Jubilee House today, Mr. Kombat said in the near term, engineers from Verga Engineering are working with TOR’s technical team to complete the tie-in and commission the F-61 this month.
He explained that this will allow the Crude Distillation Unit to move from its current throughput of about 28,000 barrels per stream day (bpsd) to its nameplate capacity of 45,000 to 55,000 bpsd.
In the medium term, TOR plans to install a new air cooler to raise capacity to 60,000 bpsd and replace the 6,500 barrel-a-day catalytic reformers with a 10,000 barrel-per-day continuous catalytic reformer.
Mr. Kombat added that the new 120-ton boiler has been installed, while work on the RFCC turnaround and SCADA system continues.
He disclosed that on August 1, 2026, President John Mahama directed the Minister for Energy and Green Transition to work with the TOR Board and management on a strategic roadmap to raise processing capacity to 100,000 barrels a day, with a further plan to increase it to 200,000 barrels per day as an end-state.
He also announced plans to restructure TOR so that it can operate on sound commercial principles without undue political interference. According to him, the Ministry of Finance is currently working with TOR to consider writing off $120 million of TOR’s legacy debt owed to the Government of Ghana or converting it into equity.
“TOR is part of a national plan. With the refinery’s expansion from 45,000 to 100,000 barrels a day, Government is targeting about 70 percent of national fuel demand from local refining by 2028,” he said.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Edmond Kombat, has revealed that crude processing at the refinery has resumed after years of dormancy.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series, Mr. Kombat said crude processing started on December 19, 2025, with all product streams going to storage for the first time in years.
He disclosed that since May 2026, TOR has received four five-million-barrel crude cargoes: Bonga, Baleine, Bonnie Light, followed on July 15 by Ghana’s Jubilee Medium Sweet crude, an indigenous crude delivered aboard MT Apache.
According to him, TOR paid for the Jubilee cargo in full, making it the refinery’s first Jubilee cargo in a decade.
Mr. Kombat added that on August 1, 2026, the President commissioned the refurbished Crude Distillation Unit.
The refinery, he said, then received another parcel of Ghanaian indigenous crude of 950,000 barrels of Sankofa crude on September 25, 2026, from its sister agency, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
