Robbery attacks in the country shot up by 26.8 percent in the year 2017, latest statistics from the Ghana Police Service (GPS) has indicated.
A total of 1,772 robbery cases were recorded at the end of the year 2017 as compared to 1,397 cases in the year 2016.
This shows an increase of 375 robbery cases as against 2016.
[contextly_sidebar id=”3SOCcIjYIFlnQQhICpAa7dGybGPaJQ7i”]The comparative data indicates that approximately five (5) cases of robbery were recorded daily in the year 2017.
Last year, several people from civil society and political parties urged the government to stop the lip service and retool the security agencies especially the police service, following the upsurge in robbery cases in the country.
The police however complained about the lack of infrastructure and logistics to empower them to fight crime in the country.
According to the police report, a total of 26 lives were lost through armed robbery as compared to 79 in 2016.
Other major crimes that were on the high last year include defilement, murder and rape
Regional breakdown of robberies
The Greater Accra region came top with the highest cases of robbery (809) with the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) recording the least number of reported robbery attacks (28).
Monthly summary of robberies
September (171) and February (104) recorded the highest and least cases respectively
The modus operandi of the robbers include:
- Persons in charge flashy vehicles returning home from work are trailed by criminals to the entrance of their houses where they are attacked with lethal weapons and robbed.
- The criminals lay surveillance on Cashiers of Cocoa buying companies who cash heavy sums of money from the bank to be disbursed to cocoa farmers without Police escort. The suspects then attack them on the way and rob them of the cash.
- The robbers (usually one person) hire a targeted vehicle but having liaised with his counterparts somewhere, requests the driver to stop, usually at obscure areas, where his accomplices are hiding, thereby facilitating a reinforced attack.
- Workers who walk home lonely in the night are attacked on the street and marched to the nearest bank with ATM where the criminals grab the victims’ ATM card and pin code to forcefully withdraw cash from their accounts.
- The armed men sometimes barricade a section of the Highway and rob travellers of their money and other belongings.
- Fuel Filling Stations which work throughout the night are attacked at night by armed men who rob cash from the attendants and the manager.
- The armed men oftentimes having robbed a vehicle, fix fake number plates on it, later trail unsuspecting victims with this vehicle to obscure areas and rob them. This scenario is taking a dramatic turn as, in recent past, the criminals rob their victims just at the entrance to victims’ residences.
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By: Nii Larte Lartey/citinewsroom.com/Ghana