The Ghana Police Service has arrested seven individuals in connection with a highway robbery attack involving a member of the Council of State, the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), COP Lydia Yaako Donkor, has disclosed.

Addressing journalists at a media briefing on Thursday, January 29, COP Donkor said the arrests form part of what she described as two major breakthroughs achieved through intelligence-driven police operations.

She explained that the suspects are linked to a robbery incident that occurred last year on the Tamale–Buipe Highway, during which a Council of State member was attacked and robbed by armed assailants.

The suspects named by police are Rashida Yussif; Aaron Abana Baswi Fanga; Wilson Avasong; Muntaro Idrisu, popularly known as Virgin; Aminu Zebrilla, also called Bedman; Inusa Sumaila, known as Agenda; and Haruna Safiano.

According to the CID Director-General, the attack took place on July 21, 2025, when six armed men accosted the victim and made away with several valuables, including mobile phones, cash, wristwatches, a laptop, reading glasses and other personal belongings.

COP Donkor said police made a breakthrough on January 11, 2026, after intelligence led officers from the Anti-Robbery Unit to Salaga in the Savannah Region, where Rashida Yussif was apprehended. An iPhone 7 Plus believed to belong to one of the robbery victims was recovered from her.

Investigators later traced the device to a mobile phone shop at Dagomba Line in Salaga, leading to the arrest of the shop attendant, Aaron Abana Baswi Fanga. He informed police that the phone had been brought in by his uncle, Wilson Avasong, an environmental health officer and owner of the shop based in Tamale.

Wilson Avasong was subsequently arrested in Tamale and told investigators that he had purchased the phone for GH₵1,000 from a phone repairer, Muntaro Idrisu. Idrisu was later picked up at the Aboabo Market in Tamale and is said to have directed police to Aminu Zebrilla, a 35-year-old commercial motorbike rider, at Dungu, a suburb of the city.

Police said Aminu Zebrilla admitted selling the phone to Idrisu for GH₵650.

A search conducted in Zebrilla’s room led to the discovery of several weapons and items suspected to be connected to the robbery. These included locally manufactured firearms, ammunition, a sword, knives, mobile phones, wristwatches, pen drives, SIM cards, a motorbike, and substances believed to be narcotics, among other items.

Further checks revealed that Aminu Zebrilla is a former convict who was jailed for robbery in 2012.

Police also arrested two additional suspects, Inusa Sumaila, aged 42, and Haruna Safiano, aged 32, from a hideout behind the Tamale China Mall.

COP Donkor noted that investigations are still ongoing, adding that police are pursuing other suspects believed to be at large and are working to recover an additional weapon thought to be in the possession of the group.