Labone Heist Suspect Remanded

A Nigerian national, Augustine Okechuku Maazi, was remanded in custody by an Accra Circuit Court on Monday over his alleged role in a foiled plot to rob three banks in the Labone area of the capital, as conflicting accounts of the incident continued to swirl. Maazi appeared before Circuit Court 8 five days after his arrest, and the presiding court adjourned the case to Wednesday, August 19, 2026, for further proceedings. He was led away by police once the brief hearing ended.

Police say Maazi was one of several men who converged on Labone on the morning of Thursday, August 13, allegedly intending to attack the GCB Bank, Ecobank and Zenith Bank branches in the area. According to a Ghana Police Service statement, officers received intelligence at about 10:45am that a robbery syndicate was preparing to strike, and a team was rushed to the scene, where suspected gang members were spotted waiting in two vehicles near the banks. Police say that when the suspects noticed the officers, one vehicle sped off, triggering a chase that ended with Maazi’s arrest; a second occupant of that vehicle escaped on foot.

The occupants of the other vehicle allegedly tried to flee while shooting at the pursuing officers, setting off a gun battle in which two suspects were killed. Their bodies were sent to a morgue for identification and autopsy, police said. Officers allegedly recovered two vehicles from the scene — a Toyota Highlander and a Hyundai Tucson — along with what police described as a blow pistol, according to the Police Service’s account of the operation. The case has since been complicated by GCB Bank’s flat denial that any robbery attempt took place at its premises.

The bank said its Labone branch was never breached and that no customer, staff member, funds or property were affected, directly contradicting the police narrative that named GCB as one of the intended targets alongside Ecobank and Zenith Bank. The discrepancy has fuelled public questions about what actually unfolded in Labone that morning and the true nature of the police operation that left two men dead. Adding to the scrutiny, checks reportedly found that the Toyota Highlander which police listed as one of the vehicles recovered from the suspects had previously been recorded by Ghanaian authorities as impounded back in 2019 — raising further questions over the vehicle’s history that investigators have yet to publicly address.

The unresolved contradictions have also drawn in Nigerian diplomatic officials. The Nigerian High Commission in Ghana has intervened in the matter, with the President of the All Nigerian Communities in Ghana reportedly dispatched to Ghana Police Service headquarters to seek clarification on the circumstances of Maazi’s arrest and the deaths of the two other suspects. Maazi remains in custody assisting investigations. He is due back before the Accra Circuit Court on Wednesday, when prosecutors are expected to lay out further details of the case against him.

By: Joyce Owusu