The Ghana Police Service has arrested seven suspects linked to a daring highway robbery on the Tamale-Buipe highway in July 2025, which targeted a member of the Council of State.
The incident occurred on 21 July 2025, when the victim was traveling along the Tamale-Buipe highway and was attacked by six armed men. The robbers made off with personal belongings, including mobile phones, cash, wristwatches, reading glasses, a laptop, and other items.
Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), COP Lydia Yaako Donkor, announced the arrests during a press conference on Thursday, January 29, 2026.
“The police have arrested seven suspects in a highway robbery involving a Council of State member, which occurred sometime last year,” COP Lydia Yaako Donkor stated in her address.
“On 11 January 2026, following intelligence gathered by the CID, a team from the Anti-Armed Robbery Unit was dispatched to Salaga in the Savannah Region. This operation led to the arrest of Rashida Yussif, who was found in possession of an iPhone 7 Plus belonging to one of the victims. The phone was retrieved,” she detailed the breakthrough by the police in their investigation.
“Further investigations led officers to a mobile phone shop located at Dagomba Line in Salaga. The shop attendant, Aaron Abana Baswifanga, was arrested, and he disclosed that the phone had been brought to the shop by his uncle, Wilson Abasong, an environmental officer and the shop’s owner, who resides in Tamale. Suspect Wilson Abasong was subsequently arrested in Tamale,” she added.
During interrogation, according to the CID boss, Wilson Abasong “stated that he purchased the phone from a phone repairer, Muntaru Iddrisu, also known as Virgin, for GH¢1,000.”
“Police then arrested suspect Muntaru Iddrisu at the Tamale Abu Market, where he led officers to arrest Aminu Zibrila, also known as Birdman, a 35-year-old Okada rider at Dungu, a suburb of Tamale. Suspect Aminu Zibrila admitted to selling the phone to Muntaru Iddrisu for GH¢650,” she added.
A search in Aminu Zibrila’s room, as revealed by COP Donkor, “resulted in the retrieval of several items, including a locally manufactured shotgun, one locally manufactured pistol, four live BB cartridges, one locally manufactured sword with the inscription ‘Birdman,’ one live 5.56 x 45 mm CZ ammunition, two live revolver ammunition, one face mask, one jackknife, a quantity of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp, one talisman, one cutter, one catapult, 15 assorted mobile phones, one jungle motorbike, 17 assorted wristwatches, five pen drives, one Telecel SIM card, and three MTN cards, which were removed from the phones that were snatched from victims during the robbery.”
Further investigations, she noted, “revealed that Aminu Zibrila is an ex-convict who was convicted of robbery in 2012. Two other accomplices, Innussah Sumaila alias Agenda, age 42, and Haruna Safianu, age 32, were both subsequently arrested from their hideouts behind the Tamale China Mall.”
The suspects are Rashida Yussif, Aaron Abana Baswifanga, Wilson Abasong, Muntaru Iddrisu alias Virgin, Aminu Zibrila alias Birdman, Innussah Sumaila alias Agenda, and Haruna Safianu.
The Council of State member, who was the primary victim in this specific robbery, escaped unharmed but lost valuables in the ambush.
COP Lydia Yaako Donkor concluded that Police investigations are ongoing to apprehend other suspects believed to be on the run, and to retrieve a weapon believed to be in their possession while investigation remains ongoing.