Tilli Forest in Bawku West, a district in Ghana’s Upper East Region, turned into a battleground on Sunday, 20 September 2026, after a gunfight between police officers and suspected robbers left three suspects dead and two officers injured.
The clash occurred during a follow-up operation by the Upper East Regional Police Command to crush a notorious robbery gang linked to a string of attacks in the region.
The gang is said to be behind a series of violent robberies targeting motorbike riders and mobile money vendors in Binaba, Binduri, Pusiga, Garu, Zebilla and surrounding communities.
The three deceased suspects have been identified as Amadu Apiiga, Philip Vokbilla and Bilal Adabode, alias Sulley.
According to the police, the team together with the suspects had gone to a location inside the forest where the gang had indicated their rifles were concealed. In the process, the team came under gunfire, resulting in injuries to the three suspects who led them to the location.
The three injured suspects were subsequently conveyed to hospital but were pronounced dead on arrival. Police say other persons who are believed to have sustained gunshot wounds fled the scene.
Guns, motorbikes among items retrieved during operation
The two police officers who got injured are receiving medical attention. Police have also linked the suspects to the murder of a police officer during a robbery at Zebilla on February 8, 2026.
Items retrieved during the operation include two locally manufactured single-barrel guns and two pistols, including a BRUNI 92 pistol loaded with eleven 9mm rounds of ammunition, as well as eighteen BB live cartridges and three sharp cutlasses.
The rest of the haul includes four unregistered Yamaha Aerox scooters, a pair of black boots, a motorbike number plate and two mobile phones.
The police command has urged the public to report any persons found with gunshot wounds to the nearest police station.
Meanwhile, six other members of the gang who were earlier arrested are in custody assisting investigations, while efforts are ongoing to identify and arrest the remaining members and trace the source of their weapons.
Previous Development: Two Yamaha scooters, ¢29k and hard drugs retrieved as police arrest 7 in Zebilla
In a related operation, police in the Upper East Region had earlier smashed a suspected armed robbery network operating in Zebilla, Garu and Binduri, leading to the arrest of seven persons.
The suspects are: Issaka Iddrisu, 20; Ali Tamimu, 21; Akugre Amobila, 26; Banabas Apiiga, 41; Abdul-Rashid Adamu, 38; Apiiga Alebena, 21; and Bilal Adabodee, 31.
The Upper East Regional Police Command said the arrests followed an intelligence-led operation by the Police Intelligence Directorate (PID), the newly formed Black Cobra Unit and the Zebilla Neighbourhood Watch Committee. According to the police, the suspects confessed to belonging to a wider gang that supplies them with weapons for robbery operations in the three districts.
Two victims subsequently reported to the police and identified two of the suspects as part of three armed robbers who attacked them at gunpoint and robbed them of two Yamaha scooters valued at ¢30,000 ($2,608.70; €2,272.97) and ¢32,000 ($2,782.61; €2,424.50), threatening to kill them if they reported to the police.
Police say the suspects admitted to the robbery and told investigators that their weapons were supplied by a Bawku-based suspect whose name has been withheld.
A search at the houses of Abdul-Rashid Adamu, Apiiga Alebena and Bilal Adabodee led to the retrieval of two unregistered motorbikes, quantities of suspected hard drugs and ¢29,550 ($2,569.57; €2,238.87) cash, suspected to be booty from their robberies.
A Circuit Court in Bolgatanga remanded the seven suspects into police custody. They are scheduled to reappear on Wednesday, 23 September 2026.
Source: Edward Adeti/Media Without Borders/mwbonline.org/Ghana/West Africa
