The killing of police officers in some parts of the country lately by criminals, though disturbing, has not dampened the resolve of the police service to carry out its duties of protecting lives and property, Inspector General of Police John Kudalor has told Accra FM.
In the most recent example, one policeman, Constable Frank Edu Eklu, was shot and killed on Tuesday June 7, 2016, as he escorted market women in a bus from Kwame Danso to Atebubu, an operation believed to have been masterminded by two police officers and three accomplices.
Another corporal, Frank Essel, who was with the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Unit of the Ghana Police Service in Kumasi, also died instantly after being fired at by armed robbers while in his car at the premises of Open Space Hotel at Denkyembuoso in May 2015.
Earlier in March 2015, Corporal Yaw Lokpao, 34, who was stationed at the Sawla Police Station in the Northern Region, was shot dead at Kalba on the Sawla-Tuna highway by men believed to be armed robbers.
Asked by host Chief Jerry Forson on the station’s morning show, Ghana Yensom, on Wednesday June 29, if he felt worried with the increased police casualty, Mr Kudalor stated: “Of course. Not only the police but even if a citizen loses his life, it deeply disturbs me. That means there has been some system failure somewhere. So it is something that worries me and is on my heart.”
The IGP added that it was not what happened that mattered as much as the measures taken afterwards to forestall the occurrence. He said following the Kwame Danso murder, he had issued instructions and given an ultimatum for the culprits involved to be searched for and arrested, which was promptly complied with. He said police had also identified “gaps” in deployment, which had led to the murder of policemen and had asked that they be filled.
But the unfortunate killing of policemen in recent times was not going to leave the police dispirited.
“…It does not demoralise them in any way because the work of the police is a risky one, we all know that, and we’ve volunteered to do it to the best of our abilities. And as leaders of this institution, we are doing everything possible to [make] the welfare of our men paramount,” he assured.
He said in spite of the heightened threat to the lives of cops, “I will not say the police are living in fear but maybe at one point in time, they were living in danger”.
Mr Kudalor said what the police service was doing was to ensure that it reduced such risks to a “minimum level”.
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