A high-stakes manhunt has ended with the arrest of Abubakar Sadick, a convict previously sentenced in absentia for armed robbery, who police say played a central role in a car theft network operating under the disguise of humanitarian or religious missions.
Ghana’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID), in collaboration with National Security, apprehended Sadick on July 28, 2025, in Accra, closing a two-year chapter of relentless pursuit that spanned regions and even reached beyond the country’s borders.
According to the CID, Sadick and his team would pose as members of faith-based or charitable organisations, approaching car rental services to hire vehicles for supposed missions to the northern parts of Ghana. Once trust was secured, the syndicate would lure drivers into isolated areas—where the victims were attacked and the vehicles stolen.
CID Director General, COP Lydia Yaako Donkor, recounted one of the more shocking incidents: Sadick once hired a Toyota Land Cruiser and, instead of heading to a charitable event, ambushed the driver near Malzeri, close to Yendi, tied him to a tree, and made off with the vehicle.
She revealed this was not an isolated act. A similarly orchestrated theft occurred in January 2023, involving another Land Cruiser, and in April that same year, a Toyota Vitz was stolen and later sold in Bolgatanga.
Sadick had been placed on Ghana’s most-wanted list since November 2022 after an arrest warrant was secured. Authorities added him to the immigration stop list and issued a red alert notice via Interpol. Although Burkina Faso authorities briefly detained him in early 2023, he escaped before his handover to Ghana could be arranged.
Investigators eventually tracked and detained him in a covert operation involving the CID’s Anti-Armed Robbery Unit and intelligence operatives. He is now in custody and aiding further investigations.
In a major revelation, COP Donkor disclosed that Sadick had already been tried and sentenced by the Cape Coast High Court to 25 years in prison with hard labour for a robbery committed in Breman Asikuma back in 2021—but had vanished before he could be jailed.
Police believe he is linked to several other vehicle theft cases currently under review, and the search for his accomplices is ongoing. Officials have urged anyone who may have been defrauded through similar rental arrangements, especially car hire services, to report to the CID headquarters.
Meanwhile, Mr. Divine Selase Agbeti of the Cyber Security Authority noted that the CID’s partnership with his office demonstrates a commitment to protecting both physical and digital spaces from criminal threats.
