The Oyibi Police District Command has blamed the inability of her officers to deal with increasing robbery cases in the area on the lack of logistics.
According to the Oyibi Police District Commander, Superintendent Suzanna Adjei, although they have about 40 police officers, they don’t have vehicles to aid in patrol duties.
She said her officers often have to resort to foot patrols which prevents them from covering long distances.
Residents of Oyibi and surrounding communities including Frafraha, Malejo, Greenfield Station and Apolonia in the Kpone-Katamanso District and Adentan Municipality, say they are living in fear due to an increase in robbery attacks.
As a result, reports suggest that some residents are gradually leaving the area with the excuse that they feel unsafe.
The Daily Graphic reported on Monday that as many as 16 robbery cases have been recorded in these areas in February 2018 alone, with two people being shot dead.
Some of the residents subsequently recounted their ordeals on the Citi Breakfast Show today, Monday, saying they are traumatized.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show today, Monday, February 26, 2018, the Oyibi Police District Commander said the only pickup vehicle they have had broken down beyond repairs, adding that several pleas to the national headquarters to provide them with vehicles have yielded no positive results.
“…There has been an increase in the robbery cases which as a police administration we are doing our best to curb that menace. We are having a lot of meetings with both the Kpone Katamanso Assembly and Adentan Municipal Assembly concerning these very issues. We are doing our best. Even if we don’t have vehicles we would have used foot patrols.”
“Currently, we don’t have even one vehicle. When I was posted here, they had a vehicle which had been parked for over one and half year. We wrote to the administration, I still do follow-ups, but I was told that they don’t have. I was asked to resort to the spoilt car and look for a mechanic to fix it,” she added.
The Police Commander also said she has been engaging the community to support them with pickups to help them patrol duties.
“I started talking to the community for assistance. I have a little above 40 officers. Considering the trend of Ghanaian communities, at least two pickups will be better,” she noted on the Citi Breakfast Show.
This comes on the back of the “Operation Calm Lives”, an initiative by the Police to beef up security in the country and clamp down on criminal activities.
4 men attacked around 7:00pm
One of the residents of the aforementioned areas, who decided to remain anonymous, said she was attacked by four men around 7:00pm when she entered her House.
According to her, the robbers were dressed like construction workers and entered her compound immediately she entered with her car after returning from work. She said she received a slap from one of the robbers when she tried to prevent them from entering her house.
She said she managed to lock the door behind them, but because her car engine was still on, the robbers sped off with it.
“…they entered my car and sped off. This happened around 7:00pm, the earliest time I had gotten home in a long while. They were dressed like construction workers. The place is a developing area so you will think that they were just in those clothes and they were on their way home…they drove the car away, with the help of friends and family and police, we found the car 45 minutes later in Kwabenya. They had used the car for robbery in Kwabenya,” she added.
Thieves spent 45 minutes breaking into my house
Another resident who suffered a similar attack said the robbers spent close to 30 minutes attempting to break her burglarproof.
She said they were warned by the robbers not to make any call else they would have themselves to blame.
“…We opened the bedroom door for them to come in. When we opened it for them and surrendered, unfortunately, they beat my son and asked where the money was. I told them I don’t have any money and they said we should lie down. We were very calm because it was a life and death issue. They were all holding guns; they were four in number and had covered their faces with masks. They collected all our phones and everything they laid their hands on they took it.”
She said the robbers ransacked the room and took laptops and anything they laid hands on.
“And when they were done they bolted. It was a very terrible thing that night and up till now, I’ve not been myself. It is a very horrible thing for someone to experience,” she recounted.
The woman further noted that, they reported the case to the police few minutes after the incident, after which a patrol team was dispatched from the Accra regional police command.
“I haven’t heard anything about it since then,” she added.
Ghc800m for police; helicopters, drones in the offing- Nana Addo
President Akufo-Addo has indicated that, the government is allocating some GH¢ 800million to the Ghana Police Service to ensure improvement in its operations.
He said the amount will be used for the procurement of modern policing equipment and gadgets including helicopters and drones to enhance the capacity of the service in dealing with crime in the country.
In his 2018 State of the Nation Address, President Akufo-Addo said the government is committed to resourcing the police with the necessary equipment to ensure that it carries out its mandate of enforcing law and order in the country.
Source: citifmonline.com
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