The District Police Commander of the North Tongu District in the Volta Region, ASP Wisdom Boglo, has appealed to the Ghana Police Service and the government to assist the area with police patrol vehicles in order to fight crime.
ASP Boglo, who was posted to the district two months ago, lamented that lack of basic logistics used in fighting crime has made law enforcement in the area very difficult to execute. He disclosed that upon assuming office, he has resorted to hiring taxis to patrol the area, which is endemic with cattle rustlers, exposing them to danger.
According to the commander, the cattle thieves in the area operate under the cover of darkness, fully armed with deadly weapons, and thus there is the need for the police to be equally armed for a successful combat. ASP Boglo explained that the phenomenon has led to a lack of confidence on the part of the inhabitants in the police in time past.
He explained that as result the people normally in the past resorted to instant justice by lynching suspected culprits, adding however that the phenomenon has changed since he assumed office because of a sustained education exercise he engaged the people in.
The commander was speaking to journalists last Sunday after four men were arrested in an attempt to steal two big cows. The suspects are Confidence Funker, Aziz Bukari, Bessah Korgbor and Mahammadou Osuman, believed to be between the ages of 23 and 25 years. He stated that at the arrest and handing over o the four-suspected thieves by the inhabitants to police is a positive step signaling the restoration of trust in the police.
He noted that the development is due to a series of meetings he held with the inhabitants since he assumed office on the need to hand over suspected thieves to help the police in investigations.
Speaking to The Enquirer in an interview, the Chairman of the Manfe Cattle Association in the district, Mr Thomas Dunyo, lamented that farmers have suffered for years in the crafty hands of the thieves.
He stated that some of the animals stolen cost as high as GH�2,000 which in many cases represents the entire life savings of some farmers. He observed that the perpetrators normally adopt smart modus operandi to outwit the farmers and anytime the thieves sense an alarm they quickly move to slaughter the animals in the course of their operation.
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