Three Nigerians, Francis Friday, Linus Agwazie, and Russell Ekenze, were given a total jail sentence of 96 years by the Atasemanso Circuit Court in Ghana for their roles in auto theft in the Kumasi Metropolis.
A PUNCH This information was received by Metro on Tuesday from a statement issued by Godwin Ahianyo, the head of the Ashanti Regional Police’s Public Affairs Unit.
This comes as Ghanaians have recently protested the alleged criminal actions of Nigerians living in the nation.
Ahianyo claims that the three were taken into custody on June 20 on accusations of stealing from and targeting parked cars.
According to the spokesperson, the trio were subsequently arraigned before the circuit court on July 22, but only Ekenze pleaded guilty to the charges pressed against him.
Ahianyo stated, “On July 22, 2025, the suspects Francis Friday, Linus Agwazie, and Russell Ekenze were arraigned before the Atasemanso Circuit Court.
“During proceedings, Russell Ekenze pleaded guilty to the charges and was immediately convicted and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in hard labour. The other two suspects, Francis Friday and Linus Agwazie, pleaded not guilty.
Subsequently, on July 23, 2025, the cases of Francis Friday and Linus Agwazie were heard at Circuit Court 3, where both were found guilty and each was sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment on two counts, with the sentences to run concurrently.”
He added that the three suspects were further arraigned on additional charges in another court and were each sentenced to 20 years.
On the same day, Circuit Court 1 heard new charges against all three suspects, which led to concurrent 20-year IHL sentences for each of them on two counts.
Russell Ekenze was ultimately found guilty in Circuit Court 2 on July 24, 2025, and given a further 10-year IHL term on two counts, which would run concurrently with his current sentence.
The statement stated that Francis Friday, Linus Agwazie, and Russell Ekenze, the three prisoners, were presently incarcerated at Kumasi Central Prison.
There have been recent reports of certain Nigerians allegedly committing crimes in Ghana.
A 32-year-old Nigerian woman named Patience Gold was given a 20-year prison sentence by a Tarkwa Circuit Court for trafficking four young women—including one with HIV—for forced prostitution.
