Police arrest 5 Chinese in connection with missing Ellembelle excavators

The Police have arrested five Chinese suspects in a special police operation conducted between the night of 7th September till the dawn of 8th September, 2022.

According to a September 8, 2022 statement posted on their social media handles, the police said the five were arrested in connection with missing excavators in Ellembelle.

The arrested party included four men and a woman.

The Ellembelle missing excavator saga has already led to the interdiction of the District Police chief and the arrest of District Chief Executive of the area.

GhanaWeb tracks the sequence of events since the issue emerged

Seized excavators go missing:

Kwesi Bonzoh, DCE for the area accused police of failing to provide needed security to guard seized excavators to ensure they were not taken back by the owners while his team tried to secure lowbeds to transport the excavators to the Regional Security Council.

After some agreement, however, two officers were released but left the excavators at 6 PM after they arrived at the scene at 2 PM with the excuse that they had been requested to return to their station.

Kwasi Bonzoh, in an interview with Joynews, further revealed that they were nowhere to be found the next morning when his team arrived to check on the excavators.

The police account:

Following reports of the missing excavators by several media platforms, the police on Friday September 2, released a statement indicating that ‘no excavators were handed over to the police by the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Ellembelle, Mr. Kwasi Bonzoh, or any other person from the assembly.”

They further urged the public to disregard the publication while noting that the DCE, his personal assistant, and another person are being investigated in connection with the missing excavators.

DCE reacts:

The DCE, Kwasi Bonzoh, reacted to the police statement. According to him, the narrative of the police and the way they have handled the issue makes them complicit in the matter.

Speaking to Joynews, the DCE said, “We thought it was negligence of duty, but with their narration and the way they are trying so hard to hide certain things, they are hiding something, and we have to find out; we cannot rely on the police to investigate because they themselves they are an interested party.

“So this matter that the police is saying they weren’t here and that I should be investigated for these two excavators, I wasn’t here when the excavators were even parked here; I was in Accra,” he argued.

DCE’s word against Police word:

On how he wanted the issue handled, Kwasi Bonzoh asked for an independent investigation by the Interior Ministry, considering his argument that the police may themselves be complicit in the matter.

“The divisional Commander’s narrative is even worse; he says the excavators were in my possession for 48 hours. I believe strongly that if the police really want to track the excavators given all the information, they can track the excavators and arrest those involved,” he said.

Excavator retrieved: According to reports, as of Tuesday 6th September, 2022; Police had retrieved one of the excavators that was reported missing from Ellembelle.

A 3news.com report said, a team of operations and intelligence officers working day and night discovered the missing excavator several kilometres into a forest within the Ellembelle District.

DCE arrested:

Following the retrieval of the excavators, the Western Regional police command have arrested the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Ellembelle, Kwasi Bonzoh. This was after he attacked police personnel who retrieved one of the excavators that were reported missing from Ellembelle.

While the team of police officers were escorting the excavator to Takoradi, at the Axim Junction, the DCE of Ellembelle, Kwasi Bonzoh reportedly organised and led some thugs to attack the police and obstruct the operation. The DCE and three others were therefore arrested accordingly.

Divisional Police Commander interdicted:

Meanwhile, the divisional commander of Police in the Ellembelle district, ACP Hlordzi Dordzi has been interdicted in connection with the missing excavator.

The Chronicle reports that the commander confirmed this in a text message when he was asked by the newspaper.