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Residents and students in some parts of the Ho municipality, the Volta Regional capital, are living in fear as a result of persistent attacks by unknown persons in the evenings. Areas that have been besieged by these attackers include SSNIT flats down, VORADEP Village, Ho Poly down, GETFund Hostel, Poly Primary, Medical Village, Mawuli Estates and other areas near the Nurses Training College and the regional hospital, TRAFALGA. According to most of the residents who spoke to DAILY GUIDE, their vicinity had become a haven for miscreants who gleefully attacked them. Poly students were originally targets of these attacks which started over a year ago, but now local residents have also become victims. The attackers usually requested money and other possessions such as phones and laptops, any resistance on the part of the victim resulted in him or her being stabbed or cut. Among the victims attacked, majority were women. Some students of the Ho Polytechnic said during the last academic year alone, over 10 people were attacked. Among the 10, three ladies were raped while the others were either robbed of their belongings, maimed or both. They cited the stretch between Central Hostel and GETFund Hostel as the area where most of the attacks occurred. In VORADEP Village, residents also complained about similar attacks but said there were no rapes. Some also mentioned that a senior police officer who lived adjacent Mirage, a popular pub, was also attacked and as a result of his attack, security in the area was intensified for some time. AT the Nurses Training College, Medical Village and regional hospital vicinity, residents noted that about two staff of the regional hospital had been injured by these unknown criminals. Three students of the nursing training had also been attacked. The latest of such attacks occurred last Friday evening around 9:00pm at the junction of the Riis Presbyterian Church, located between the SSNIT flats down and VORADEP Village. The two ladies were attacked while attending an all-night service at the Riis Presbyterian Church. The ladies had alighted from a taxi and were about 50 meters from the church premises when two guys attacked them. The guys robbed them of their phones and cash and threatened them with a knife. One of the ladies who managed to escape had a deep cut beneath her right eye and a mark on her neck. The other lady was dragged to a nearby bush, but was saved due to the timely intervention of church members who had responded to the alarm raised by the girl who managed to escape. The police patrol team who responded swiftly could not apprehend the criminals as the area was quite dark and bushy. Residents who live in that area revealed that since students of Ho Polytechnic went on vacation, there had been attacks almost every week. DAILY GUIDE�s tour of the crime scenes at night revealed that the road was un-tarred, there were inadequate street lights and overgrown bushes. Residents said because of the bad road, some taxi drivers refused to take them home, and so they had to walk home in the dark. They therefore called on the municipal assembly to provide them with street lights. The Ho Municipal Chief Executive, Isaac Kodobisah, when contacted, admitted that the assembly was aware of the attacks and hence provided some streetlights at Mawuli Estates and SSNIT Flats, however it appeared more had to be provided. He assured residents that the assembly would do all it took to ensure the areas became safe. The Ho Municipal Commander, Samuel Owusu Berko, who confirmed some of the attacks, noted that their records indicated that the attacks had reduced, however they were still intensifying their patrols and strategies to curb the menace. He advised residents not to stay out late, and whenever they did, they should walk in groups. More so, they should keep the contact numbers of the police and promptly report attacks and suspicious persons in their vicinities. He also advised them to clear the bushes in their vicinities to prevent criminals from using them as hideouts and escape routes.