Labone GCB Bank attempted robbery case adjourned

An Accra Circuit Court has postponed until October 6, 2026, the trial of Augustine Okechukwu Maazi for the attempted robbery of the GCB Bank branch in Labone. The delay came after Maazi appeared before a relieving judge while the main judge is on leave. Prosecutors told the court they were preparing their disclosures and asked for the adjournment.

Previously, the main judge instructed prosecutors to submit their disclosures so the court could manage the case before it starts. Maazi, an unemployed Nigerian national, has pleaded not guilty to eight charges, including conspiracy to commit robbery, attempted robbery, and actual robbery. Police investigations show Maazi and five others allegedly robbed banks between May and August 13, 2026, in Tema, Spintex, and Labone.

The group reportedly carried out similar crimes in Côte d’Ivoire and Togo. Two accomplices were killed during a gunfight with police on August 13, 2026, near the Labone GCB Bank branch. Maazi allegedly lived at a hotel and had no fixed address. The prosecution mentioned that the Office of the Special Operations Assistant to the Inspector-General of Police had received many complaints about customers being targeted by armed robbery groups in Greater Accra.

Surveillance teams monitored the suspects around banks in the region and Tema. On June 9 and June 11, 2026, authorities received intel that the gang operated near Zenith Bank and Fidelity Bank at Spintex. CCTV footage suggested they used a Toyota Highlander and a Hyundai Tucson. Police intelligence indicated that the gang leaders, Harrison Chinedu and Dan, typically carried pistols.

Prosecutors claim the gang robbed a woman at gunpoint on May 17, 2026, at Agbamaame in Tema Community Two, taking GH¢50,000. Similar attacks happened on June 11, 2026, at a Republic Bank branch in Achimota. On August 13, 2026, police intercepted the suspects' black Hyundai Tucson and ash-colored Toyota Highlander near Labone and Cantonments.

Maazi was in the Highlander, surveilling both banks, while his accomplices waited with the Hyundai Tucson near the Ecobank branch. Police chased the Hyundai Tucson from Zenith Bank through various locations, where two suspects were fatally shot and the vehicle damaged. The gang allegedly imported vehicles from Nigeria and changed their foreign plates for Ghanaian ones to hide their criminal activities. Police are still searching for the remaining suspects.