Benin national remanded for possessing guns

A Benin national Dennis Dagblenu who was arrested with 12 single barrel guns at the Aflao boarder was on Tuesday remanded into custody by an Accra Circuit Court.

Charged with possessing of firearms without lawful excuse, Dagblenu pleaded not guilty.

Dagblenu had told the police that he bought the weapons to sell to his colleague farmers to ward off animals destroying their farms in Ivory Coast.

The Court presided over by Mr Aboagye Tandoh remanded him into lawful custody to reappear on February 16. The adjournment was to enable prosecution to conduct further investigations.

Prosecuting Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Stephen Adjei told the Court that the complainants were officials of Ghana Immigration Service stationed at Aflao in the Volta Region. Accused person lives in Ivory Coast.

On January 27, this year, at about 5:10pm, while the complainants were on duty, they spotted the accused crossing from Lome to Aflao as was a pillion rider carrying a sack.

The Immigration Officers stopped the accused person and the motor rider. ASP Adjei said the Officer arrested Dagblenu with 12 single barrel guns wrapped in a sack but the motor rider escaped.

Dagblenu and the exhibits were sent to the Criminal Investigation Department for further investigations.

Prosecution said the accused person told the Police that he bought the guns from a blacksmith in a town called Savelou in Benin.

He was transporting them to Ivory Coast to be used by his colleague farmers to protect their farms from animal that usually destroyed their farm produce.

Source: GNA