John Kudalor, Inspector General of Police (IGP), has confirmed the withdrawal of the police from Donkorkrom and Tease in the Afram Plains following the destruction of police properties and assault on the personnel in the area.
The vandalization of the police station happened when two police personnel, together with a civilian, escaped after their arrest in a purported robbery attack.
A police station and barracks in the areas were vandalized by the rioters while the only patrol vehicle was also set ablaze together with seven other vehicles.
Not satisfied with their act, the protesters also burnt a standby generator at the district police station and further destroyed a water reservoir at the barracks.
Some properties of personnel and their families were allegedly looted in the course of the attack.
A fire tender belonging to the Ghana National Fire Service was destroyed by the angry youth in the area.
Robbery Attack
Addressing the media at the police headquarters in Accra, the Director General in-charge of Criminal Investigation Department (CID), COP Prosper Kwame Agblor, said on Tuesday, August 16, 2016, at about 10:30 am, the Donkorkrom Police received a report that there was a robbery attack on a GCB Bank bullion van with registration number GN 1354-15 at Maame Krobo Junction in the Afram Plains.
The police promptly responded to the call and after some serious operational maneuvers, the suspects, numbering three, were rounded up.
They included Hasifu Mohammed, a civilian who was the driver of a taxi allegedly used for the robbery, Corporal Elvis Solomon Mensah and Lance Corporal Daniel Kissi Abrokwa – both policemen attached to the Donkorkrom District Police Command. Abrokwa doubles as an elder at the Church of Pentecost at Tease.
Driver of the Bullion van was killed in the process and a policeman, who was escorting the vehicle, suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
The injured policeman, according to reports, is still receiving treatment at the Donkorkrom Presbyterian Hospital.
The Escape
Upon their arrest, the suspects, who were then being kept at the Donkorkrom police station, were to be sent to the Eastern Regional Police Command for further interrogations in line with police procedures and practices.
While on their way, the two cops among the gang managed to escape at Nkawkaw when the escort team had stopped to refuel.
COP Agblor said the escape issue was also being investigated.
Riot by residents
Upon hearing news that the police officers had escaped, some opinion leaders of Donkorkrom allegedly instigated some youth of the area on Thursday, August 18, to attack the district police station in the area and the police post at Tease.
The police barracks were destroyed while an operational vehicle and seven other vehicles were also burnt down.
The rioters also attacked police officers and their families and purportedly looted one of the blocks in the barracks, taking personal belongings of the affected personnel and their families.
Police personnel in the area had to run for their lives as the rioters, numbering about 500 and wielding guns, clubs, machetes and other offensive weapons, injured two personnel in the process.
Re-Arresting Of Escapees
In less than 24 hours of their escape, the police, with the help of some residents, re-arrested the suspected criminals at their hideouts at Nkawkaw.
COP Agblor said the police administration, as part of disciplinary measures, would punish the purported police-turned-armed-robbers for their action.
The three suspects, who have provisionally been charged for murder, will be taken to court for trial.
Meanwhile, over 500 police personnel from the Formed Police Unit, the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) and other action units have been deployed to maintain peace, law and order in the area.
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