The Northern Region Police Public Relations Officer ASP Mohammed Tanko has revealed that they lack men to fight violence ongoing in Karaga.

According to him, there is a huge gap between police and civilian ratio in the area hence the difficulty in clamping down on criminals.

He further disclosed that there are less than 20 police officers stationed in Karaga.

Some members of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) stormed the police station in the area to flee their two colleagues who had been arrested by the police after an open brawl.

The boys had claimed the constituency chairman was not consulted in the recruitment of some boys and girls into the security agencies.

Speaking on Ultimate Breakfast Show with Lantam Papanko, ASP Tanko explained that its highly impossible to have all the twenty officers dispatched to hot spots.

He indicated that they were over powered by the rampaging youth who stormed the police station and that there was no way the few ones stationed at the police station could have stopped the boys.

ASP Tanko failed to mention the number of police officers on duty when the NPP boys broke into the police station, admitting that the number of men is not adequate.

The PRO stated that firing tear gas, shooting and spraying pepper was not an option at that time.

‘…Karaga is about three and half hours drive from Tamale, we have less than twenty (20) policemen in Karaga. And at every point in time, we cannot have all the twenty on duty at the same time, and even with the situation where we have all the twenty men on duty at the same time and also at the charge office, the number of rampaging youth was so great that, there was no way the police men could have prevented them from doing what they did… We have few men at the police station, the boys numbered over 100,’ he explained.

He said investigations have been launched to re-arrest the escapees as well as other perpetrators.

He assured that calm has been restored at Karaga after reinforcement was sent from Tamale.

‘As I speak to you there is calm at Karaga,’ he said.

The two escapees were arrested for assaulting and burning the motorbike of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) Director.