<<Print>>Social commentator, Bernard Allotey Jacobs, has commended the Inspector General of Police (IGP) George Akuffo Dampare and his officers for apprehending the criminals involved in recent bullion van robberies.
Two officers named Constable Reindolph Gyimah Ansan and Lance Corporal Stephen Kweku Nyame were allegedly killed in a shoot-out between the police and robbery gang members at Borteyman near Ashaiman in the Tema West Municipality.
According to a Police statement signed by the Director-General of Police Public Affairs, DCOP Kwesi Ofori, the two suspects died on arrival at the Police Hospital in Accra.
“During the raid at Borteyman, near Ashaiman, there was an exchange of gunshots and two policemen, No. 58284 Constable Reindolph Ansah and No. 53549 Lance Corporal Stephen Kwaku Name who had been arrested in connection with the Bullion Van Robberies, were shot and were pronounced dead on arrival at the Police Hospital where they were rushed for treatment. Some other suspects believed to have sustained gunshot wounds managed to escape the scene.”
Five of the gang members including four policemen and one civilian were further arrested Tuesday night, March 8, 2022 while others also escaped with gunshots wounds.
The arrested officers, the statement noted, have been interdicted and will be put before court on Wednesday, 9th March 2022.
“Further investigations have led to the arrest of five other suspects, four of whom are policemen. We are pursuing five other civilian suspects who have gone into hiding."
Concerning the suspects who escaped, the Police appealed to the “general public and health facilities within Accra and Tema areas to report to police if they find anyone with gunshot wounds”.
Allotey Jacobs, during a panel discussion on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', was pleased with the work of the Police Service in the Dampare era.
" . . let me commend the Police Service that, at long last, in all their search [in all their investigations] they have found those who perpetrated this thing," he said.
He, however, called on the Police administration to beef up their security intelligence to avert crimes and swiftly apprehend criminals.
He advised the Police to "give Ghanaians that hope that we are in charge, we are in control, it will be well with us''.
Suggesting a way to achieve this goal of giving the citizenry hope, Allotey Jacobs stated; "There is the need to reorganize or redesign our security architecture. We are getting to a stage where the world has become so sophisticated that we have to redesign our architecture in such a way that Ghanaians will have in all the security setups".