The Upper West Regional Police Command has made a major breakthrough in its investigations into a series of murder cases recorded since 2021 in the Wa Municipality, with the arrest of two key suspects.

The suspects, Sherif Abdulai, an ex-convict aged 30, and Mahamuda Lamin, aged 25, were arrested on October 3 and 6, 2025, respectively, following sustained intelligence and investigation into the recent murder of a 55-year-old security man, Issah Yahaya, which occurred at Wa-Dobile on September 21.

A search on suspect Sherif Abdulai led to the retrieval of a Villaon keypad mobile phone, an X-Base solar-powered portable radio, a cutlass with specially designed edges, and a bicycle all belonging to the deceased.

Other items retrieved from him were a sack containing cooked meat and a pickaxe handle.

Preliminary investigations into the case revealed that the deceased, Yahaya, was attacked while on duty and sustained severe head injuries. At the scene of crime, police retrieved a blood-stained cement block and a knife.

A post-mortem conducted at the Upper West Regional Hospital indicated the verbal cause of death as "severe head injury due to blunt force trauma".

A review of the facts of the case revealed that a similar method had been observed in about 15 murder cases recorded in the region since 2021.

In 2021, police recorded four murder cases at Kpaguri, Loho, Kambale-Mangu and areas between Kalco and Loho.

Within the Wa Municipality, 11 more of these murder cases with similar modus were recorded in 2022 at the following locations in Wa: the Kulpong-Yeyiri road, around the High Ranking School on the Napogbakole extension, Goripie near Bulenga, TI Ahmadiyya School, Kpaguri near Chorkor, Sawmill around Nakore Petrosol, Tupaso School area, Napogbakole extension around VRA quarters, around the Star Standard Academy, and an area around the Child support orphanage.

In most of these cases, the victims were night watchmen who were attacked while on duty and they were either strangled to death or suffered head injuries from being hit on the head with concrete cement blocks.

In view of this, the Inspector-General of Police, Christian Tetteh Yohunu, deployed a team of intelligence officers and investigators to work together with the Upper West Regional Command on the cases, leading to the arrest of the two.

Suspect Sherrif Abdulai admitted during interrogation that he had killed 16 people in the Wa Municipality since 2021.

He futher noted that he usually targeted night watchmen and sometimes mentally challenged persons.

He also indicated to police that he had killed three mentally challenged persons, two watchmen all at Bole, one mentally challenged man in Banda Nkwanta and one mentally challenged woman in Bamboi.

Both suspects, Sherif Abdulai, and Mahamuda Lamin, are in the custody of the police, assisting the investigation.