The police at Sunyani are looking for a Mallam suspected of providing spiritual protection for members of a gang of thieves. He gave them padlocks and pomade – said to contain spiritual powers. But the charm could not prevent the arrest of the leader of the gang.

Tanu Adamu, also in the grips of the police is a 17-year-old girl, who was said to have failed to employ the charm ahead of a stealing expedition on June 15. She was arraigned before the Sunyani Community Tribunal for stealing and escaping from lawful custody and was remanded in prison custody until July 24. Her plea was not taken. Prosecuting, Police Constable Joshua Tetteh said that the accused lived with the complainants. Miss Catherine Ofori and Miss Rebecca Donkor, a student and a trader respectively, at Penkwase, a Sunyani suburb.

Constable Tetteh said there had been a series of thefts of washed clothing from drying lines in the neighbourhood. On June 1, while Catherine was away, the accused entered her premises and stole a quantity of women’s clothing valued at ?215,000. Initial investigations by Catherine revealed that the accused was the culprit, so she reported to the police who arrested the accused. Upon interrogations, she admitted the offence.

The prosecutor said that while in custody at the Brong Ahafo Regional Police Headquarters, the accused sought permission to visit the toilet. Inside the toilet room, the accused removed some of the louver blades and jumped out from the second floor of the Police Headquarters in an attempt to escape but was arrested.

As a result of injuries she sustained in the bid to escape, the accused was admitted at the Sunyani Regional Hospital and later released on police enquiry bail on medical grounds. However, she failed to report to the police. While on bail, the accused entered the house of another neighbour, Donkor, and stole a quantity of ladies clothing. She was arrested and handed over to the police with the stolen items. At the police station, the accused revealed the activities of the gang and the charms of the ‘Mallam’ who, she said fortified them against arrest.