The Ashanti Regional Police Command has advised residents to be careful when picking taxi cabs to avoid falling victim to robberies.
According to the police, the ‘pick and rob’ tactics adopted by suspected robbers to snatch belongings of their victims have resurfaced in the region.
The Ashanti Regional Police Commander, COP Kofi Boakye, addressing newsmen, cautioned residents of the region to be on the lookout.
He said: “We used to have ‘pick and rob’ where taxi drivers will pick people and rob them on the road. It stopped after a group of people were arrested at Barekese, but recently within the past three weeks, it is resurfacing. What they do is that they pick you, and when they get especially to the Melcom area, Golden Tulip area, and other areas, they rob you, beat you and throw you out of the car. I want to emphasise this as part of the education: if you stop a taxi that is not from a station and there are two people in the taxi, please do not take it. If you take the taxi and along the way he wants to pick another person, don’t agree. It is advisable to pick taxis at recognised taxi stations.”
COP Kofi Boakye also said the police would begin auditing unauthorised weapons in the possession of police officers to reduce crime perpetrated by personnel from the service.
“People may [point to] the involvement of policemen in robberies and all that. We want to say that it is quite unfortunate, it is sad, but in consonance with what my operational director said, we have sent a directive to all police stations that any policeman who will involve himself in robbery will be dealt with ruthlessly, even more than a normal robber. And in line with that, the IGP has instructed us to do a weapon audit and other things that will reduce the incidence of policemen having weapons in their possession which are not authorised,” he said.
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