Armed Robbery In Accra Declines

The Ghana Police Service drive to combat robbery in the Greater Accra Region seems to be making headway, after it has recorded a drastic reduction in robbery cases. The Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, DCOP James Oppong-Boanuh, has indicated to The Chronicle newspaperin an interview, that since he assumed office this year, robbery in the region had reduced from an average of five reported cases, to one case a day.

According to him, “Even in some countries, they don’t call those crimes we record here, as robbery, they call it street mugging. Formerly, when you talk about robbery it involved guns, but now it is about knives.”

Some few months ago, the police recorded 30 cases of robbery, while 13 cars were snatched within a month. DCOP, Oppong-Boanuh, who has been the force behind the remarkable success in the Accra Region, insisted that currently there had never been a reported case of highway robbery in Accra. He attributed the achievement chalked to the new Mahindra vehicles that had been provided to them by the government, adding that the availability of the cars had enabled them patrol the whole of Accra.

He intimated that with the provision of the logistics, the police officers have been committed to their duties, stressing that “Now you go out in the night, you see the night patrol teams working earnestly.” The Accra Regional Commander said the supervision of the middle level police officers also, has been strengthened, thus improving efficiency. According to him, his deputy, Bright Oduro, was the former Accra Regional Crime Officer, hence he being familiar with the hideouts of the robbers. “When we came to the region, I brought my computer, and he brought his printer, so now we have a data base. We have been able to keep all sorts of information. We can tell you all sorts of weapons they use,” he hinted.

He noted that most of the notorious armed robbers had been arrested, thereby reducing robbery in Accra. When quizzed on which areas had been identified as robbery prone areas, he said all the new settlements without large populations, including areas around Madina, parts of Atomic area and Dansoman. He emphasised that their attention had been focused on the trouble spots, to zero in on robbers. Outlining the problems that confronted the police in the discharge of their duties, he said informants and victims do not give accurate directions whenever crimes were being committed. “Somebody may have lived in Accra for 10 years, but the person may not even be able to mention popular spots or landmarks, to enable us to find the area where there is crime going on, the whole problem is that the houses are not numbered, so it is very difficult to get there when the robbery is taking place,” he bemoaned.

Regarding their previous attacks against the Attorney General’s Department, and the Judiciary for thwarting the efforts of the police to fight armed robbery in the country, Mr. Oppong-Boanuh, who is also a lawyer, said there was now better coordination. “Now you don’t hear negative attacks on them, the problem did not go away just by wishing them away. At the moment there is an understanding between all the parties,” he concluded.