Only court is mandated to punish armed robbers – Police Commander

Winneba Police Commander, Supt Godfrey Tetteh Adjirakor, has categorically stated that the court is the only institution mandated to mete out any form of punishment to suspects found guilty of armed robbery.

According to him, it is wrong for any person to subject anybody even when caught in the act of stealing to any form of instant justice because the law frowns on it.

“Even we in the Police Service do not have that right, how much more the citizenry?, he queried.

The police commander made this known to the media in an interview at Winneba in reaction to the Denkyira-Obuasi incident where an army captain was lynched after being mistaken for an armed robber.

He, therefore, advised the general public to put an end to instant justice and report any case to the police in order to safeguard the lives of innocent victims.

Superintendent Adjirakor dispelled the notion that the police treated reported robbery cases with disdain, saying the service acts within the law and only operates with hardcore evidence in order not to meet out any injustice to suspects.

“Lack of prosecution as a result of lack of evidence is the reason why most suspects are granted bail after appearing in court. We are only interested in reducing crime rather than encouraging it,” he averred.

He bemoaned the soaring rate of mob action in the country and thus, admonished Ghanaians to report such cases to the police rather than taking the law into their own hands.