The Bono Regional Police Command has arrested eight suspects for allegedly assaulting a 21-year-old man, Godstime Umukoro, at Kotokrom, a suburb of the Sunyani West Municipality, as part of his purported initiation into internet fraud.
The suspects allegedly subjected the victim to severe beating, claiming that the assault was part of the process they had undergone before joining the internet fraud business.
A statement signed by the Bono Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Chief Inspector Thomas Akeelah, said the suspects were arrested on October 4, 2026, after a patrol team of the Regional Operations Unit responded to a distress call at about 4:30 p.m. that a group of people were attacking a man at Kotokrom.
It said the police found the victim with multiple marks of assault on his body and arrested the suspects at the scene.
The suspects were identified as Peter Mbam, 24; Godwin Moses, 26; Humble Oweifah, 18; Osas Ogbemudia, 30; Samuel Aisosa, 22; Ashile Godbess, 24; Alexander Uyuo, 30; and Patrick Romans, 25.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects were allegedly brought to Ghana by one Nwachukwu King Augustine, said to be their chairman.
According to the police, the suspects allegedly lured unsuspecting victims into online conversations using downloaded photographs of foreign military personnel, claiming to be soldiers deployed to the war front in Yemen.
The statement noted that the suspects collected money from their victims, which was subsequently paid into the account of their purported leader.
It added that the suspects admitted during interrogation to beating the victim as part of their initiation into the internet fraud business, claiming they had undergone a similar process.
The Bono Regional Police Command commended members of the public for their swift intervention and assured them of continued collaboration in the fight against crime in the region.
BY STEPHANIE BIRIKORANG
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