Bono East NIB Arrests Five Suspects in Connection with Seized Stolen Rice.

Techiman: The Bono East Regional Command of the National Investigation Bureau (NIB) has taken into custody five individuals suspected of involvement in the theft of food items designated for distribution to Senior High Schools (SHSs) within the region. The suspects, named as Michael Damuah, Chief Store Keeper at Techiman Senior High School, and his Assistant, Madam Rebecca Twum Yeboah, along with Mr. Yaw Owusu, owner of a Kia Rhino truck, Mr. Kwabena Opong, the truck driver, and Emmanuel Alexander, the driver's mate, are alleged to have conspired to steal 56 bags of 50-kilogram 'Lucy branded' rice. These supplies were intended for Jema SHS in the Kintampo South District and Kintampo SHS in the Kintampo North Municipality.According to Ghana News Agency, the arrest was announced by Mr Kwasi Adu-Gyan, Bono East Regional Minister, during a news conference in Techiman. The driver and his mate were apprehended on Thursday, November 21, 2024, in Tuobodom, where NIB officials seized the stolen rice loaded onto two tricycles with registration numbers M-19-BA 1659 and M-21-BT 5901. It was revealed that the rice had been collected from Techiman SHS, a designated food distribution center, but was diverted en route to its intended destinations.Mr. Adu-Gyan condemned the theft as unacceptable, stating that the suspects would face prosecution. The Ghana News Agency further reported that additional food items, including bags of millet, Gari, cartons of milk, tom-brown, bags of sugar, soya beans, maize, gallons of cooking oil, and large sachets of Choco Milo, intended for student consumption, were found stored in an isolated room at the distribution point.