Police in the Ashanti Region have shot dead three suspected armed robbers and recovered a total of seven firearms in coordinated pre-emptive operations targeting a gang linked to multiple violent crimes across the region.
The incident occurred on December 24, 2025, when officers intercepted the suspects—identified as Seidu Issah, Musah Yakubu, and Yahaya Munkaila, also known as Tijani—who had gathered in a bush between Anwiankwanta and the Jacobu junction to execute a planned attack. Upon being approached, the suspects opened fire on law enforcement, prompting officers to return fire in self-defence. The three suspects were fatally wounded, while two accomplices fled the scene.
Authorities retrieved two loaded pump-action guns, one unbranded pistol, 25 live cartridges, and six spent cartridges from the initial operation site. The deceased were conveyed to the Bekwai Municipal Hospital, where they were pronounced dead on arrival, and their bodies have been deposited at the morgue for autopsy.
Preliminary investigations indicate the gang was responsible for a spate of high-profile crimes, including the November 3, 2025, Jacobu airport robbery that resulted in the death of a security officer. They are also linked to multiple highway robberies along the Manso stretch, the Antoakrom robbery, the Abofour forest robbery near Offinso, and an attack on a gold buyer at Anwiankwanta on December 8, 2025.
In a follow-up operation on December 26, police raided a palm plantation near Manso Nkwanta—where the gang was known to conceal weapons—recovering an AK-47 assault rifle, an MG3 rifle, an additional pump-action gun, and a single-barrel gun, alongside ammunition and personal items.
Police have stated that efforts are currently underway to trace the sources of the recovered firearms and apprehend the remaining accomplices still at large.
