The Ghana Police Service, through the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), has arrested seven suspects in connection with a highway robbery attack on a member of the Council of State that occurred along the Tamale–Buipe Highway on July 21, 2025.
Announcing the breakthrough at a press briefing on Thursday, January 29, 2026, CID Director-General COP Lydia Yaako Donkor described the arrests as one of two major success stories achieved through intelligence-led operations.
“The police have arrested seven suspects in a highway robbery involving a Council of State member, which occurred sometime last year,” she stated.
The suspects are:
- Rashida Yussif
- Aaron Abana Baswi Fanga
- Wilson Avasong
- Muntaro Idrisu (also known as Virgin)
- Aminu Zebrilla (also known as Bedman)
- Inusa Sumaila (also known as Agenda)
- Haruna Safiano
The robbery involved six armed men who ambushed the victim (widely reported to be Pe Ditundini Adiali Ayagitam III, the Chiana-Pio and Upper East Regional representative on the Council of State) near Mile 40 on the Buipe–Tamale highway. The attackers robbed him of mobile phones, cash, wristwatches, reading glasses, a laptop, and other personal items.
The breakthrough began on January 11, 2026, when a team from the Anti-Robbery Unit, acting on intelligence, arrested Rashida Yussif in Salaga. She was found in possession of an iPhone 7 Plus belonging to one of the victims.
Further investigations led to a mobile phone shop at Dagomba Line in Salaga, where shop attendant Aaron Abana Baswi Fanga was arrested. He revealed that the phone had been brought to the shop by his uncle, Wilson Avasong (an environmental officer and shop owner in Tamale).
Wilson Avasong was arrested in Tamale and stated he bought the phone from a phone repairer, Muntaro Idrisu, for GH¢1,000.
Muntaro Idrisu, arrested at Aboabo Market in Tamale, led police to Aminu Zebrilla (aka Bedman), a 35-year-old motorbike rider at Dungu, a suburb of Tamale.
“Aminu Zebrilla admitted selling the phone to Muntaro Idrisu for GH¢650,” COP Donkor said.
A search of Aminu Zebrilla’s room yielded a large cache of weapons and items linked to the robbery, including:
- One locally manufactured shotgun
- One locally manufactured pistol
- Four live BB cartridges
- One locally manufactured sword inscribed “Bedman”
- One live 5.56 x 44 CZ ammunition
- Two live revolver ammunition
- One face mask
- One jack knife
- 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 race watches
- Five pen drives
- One telecell SIM card
- Three MTN cards removed from snatched phones
Investigations further revealed that Aminu Zebrilla is an ex-convict who was jailed for robbery in 2012.
Two other accomplices, Inusa Sumaila (aka Agenda, age 42) and Haruna Safiano (age 32), were arrested from their hideout behind the Tamale China Mall.
“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,” COP Donkor said.
The arrests represent a significant breakthrough in the high-profile case and demonstrate the CID’s commitment to intelligence-led operations targeting violent crime and armed robbery in the country. Further updates are expected as investigations continue.
