Some persons believed to be relatives and friends of 23-year-old Sarakatu Muniru, the man described by the Tema Police Regional Command as the ‘assistant headmaster’ of an Ashaiman-based ‘armed robbery training school’, are plotting to have the suspect freed from the grips of the law. A source who spoke to DAILY GUIDE at Ashaiman said a group was moving from house to house and asking people they considered very good friends of the suspect to contribute money to pay for his freedom. Though the source could not tell how much the group was looking to raise and who they were going to make the payment to, it was gathered that many residents did not like what Muniru’s friends were doing. He narrated that he first heard about the alleged contribution from another resident of the area and did not believe it until a member of the group approached him when he had arrived from work one evening and explained to him that he and the other members had decided to embark on the contribution exercise which according to him, was expected to get the suspect released if the payment was made. He failed to mention who the expected recipient was and further explained that the group was being cautious about the whole thing for fear of being exposed. Asked why those of them who did not like the idea had failed to report the matter to the police, the source explained that it was very risky for anyone to be found mentioning anything of that sort to the police, adding that persons like Muniru were very dangerous and could easily create problems for any resident who dared report their activities to the police. Some of the residents, who agreed to talk to DAILY GUIDE on condition of anonymity, said they were also contacted and encouraged to contribute some money and they also explained that the recipient of the money was never mentioned to them. Sarakatu Muniru was arrested following his involvement in several reported criminal cases within Ashaiman and its environs by a police patrol team around Zeenu, a suburb of Ashaiman. He was alleged to have tried fleeing the scene but was quickly nabbed by the Police who were too smart for him. When DAILY GUIDE contacted the Tema Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Augustine Gyening, he observed that it was not true that police officers had demanded money to release the suspect. “As I talk to you, Muniru is in prison custody awaiting the outcome of the court’s final decision on the cases he was allegedly involved in and therefore it cannot be true that we are planning to release him,” he told DAILY GUIDE in a telephone interview. He remarked that the command was not aware of any such move by the group and added that if it was true that some persons were raising funds to help free Muniru, then it was not going to materialize because there was no way the police would free a person who had created so much problem for the society. Muniru reportedly belonged to a gang that had been terrorizing residents and robbing them of their valuables. The Regional Police Command mentioned that his arrest was a great scoop for the security agencies in the area. Before his arrest, 22 teenaged armed robbers who allegedly attacked residents of Gorm near Ada during the Asafotufiam festival, named Muniru and another person, Ali, as those who taught them the techniques of armed robbery. Ali, meanwhile, has disappeared. Persons believed to be accomplices of Muniru, after his arrest, rushed to his residence, broke the door to his room and made away with weapons suspected to be used in robbery activities, which were hidden in the ceiling of the room, before the police arrived at the suspect's home. He and his cronies were reported to have threatened to kill a policeman of the area and also tried kidnapping a man they claimed was giving out information about their activities to the cops. The group was reported to have seized the said man and was forcing him into a waiting vehicle when some Muslim leaders who witnessed the incident pleaded with them to spare him. The police later explained that contrary to the perception held by the public, there was no physical structure that served as a school, but rather, the group usually met at certain locations in Ashaiman where new recruits, aged between 12 and 24, were taught basic techniques in robbery. The police mentioned the Spider Toilet and Government School Toilet, both in Ashaiman, as two of the locations the suspected criminals met to plan their robbery activities, adding that the said locations were very dangerous zones where several residents in the area were robbed, especially at dawn and in the evenings. Source: Daily Guide