Residents of Sokode Bagble in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region have lamented bitterly over the increasing rate on theft and break-ins in the farming community.

According to a regent, Winfred Bansah, the phenomenon has become so serious that some resident no longer sleep at night, as they have to keep wake to prevent their properties from being stolen.

“We no longer have peaceful sleep at night, items are being stolen almost every day in this our community. This is my greatest worry at the moment,” he said.

He mentioned this when the Deputy Volta Regional Minister, Johnson Avuletey and the Volta Region Secretary, Jospeh Homenya presented 100 bags of cement and 10 bundles of aluminium roofing to some victims of a rainstorm that rendered scores of residents in Sokode Ando and Bagble homeless.

Mr Bansah further indicated the few thieves caught and taken to a police post in the community are not prosecuted but released for no apparent reason.

“There were no incident of stealing in this our community in the past but the youth of today have refused to work, they won’t learn a skill neither will they farm. All they do is stealing, before you realised, your things have been stolen. That’s what we are enduring in this community.”

He added that traditional authorities have agreed to meet the appropriate authorities to map out a plan to improve security in the community to outwit the incidents of stealing.

The Deputy Volta Regional Minister, Johnson Avuletey, advised that a community watchdog committee be set up to fish out the miscreants in the community.

He said “it is you the youth who must take up this task and form a watchdog committee to guard the community and catch the thieves. Either than that, you would also grow and be lamenting same problem”.

He added that security in the area would also be beefed up to deter the criminals from operating.