The Ghana Police Service has advised the general public to be cautious as cases of robbery increase in various parts of the country.
Some days ago, videos of daylight car robbery incidents at Sampa Valley in the Ga South Municipality and Apenkwa Traffic Light on the Achimota stretch went viral on social media.
These incidents among several others have heightened fears among the public, who feel their lives remain in danger as they go about their daily activities.
The Ghana Police Service as a matter of urgency has introduced urgent additional security measures in the wake of a spike in robbery incidents, especially in the national capital, Accra.
In an interview with Citi News, the Acting Director-General of the Public Affairs at the Ghana Police Service, ACP Kwesi Ofori, said his outfit is making use of its patrol teams to combat the crime.
“We are also going to ensure that in the coming days, there is going to be high police visibility in the metropolis. One important thing I would like to appeal to the public is for them to give us information that might help in tracking some of these criminals. We assure the public that we are closing in intelligence-wise, and we will do everything possible to get closure on such cases.”
Touching on bank-related robbery, ACP Kwesi Ofori advised persons who intend to withdraw huge sums of money to exercise caution or contact the police for assistance.
“We have asked corporate institutions, businessmen of high and low status who will be going to the bank to solicit assistance from the police, and they should also make sure that they put better security arrangements. We are also encouraging people to use other modern means of transacting business and avoid carrying huge sums of money if not necessary. If it is necessary, they can count on the police for assistance”, he added.
We must begin interrogating bank staff over bank-related robberies – Prof. Aning
Security analyst, Prof. Kwasi Aning, believes the time has come for financial institutions to embark on rigorous scrutiny of their staff following the increasing cases of bank-related robberies in the country.
He says routine checks must also be carried out on both company and personal electronic devices, used by the staff to assess information that might have aided such crimes, if any.
Prof. Aning said stringent security measures among the police and the banks must be adopted to ascertain the culpability of bank staff in case of robbery attacks on persons who may have transacted business at the bank.
“This lady who withdrew money from the bank, how did criminals know that he had money on her? Are we picking up people within that particular bank, checking their laptops and phone records, or if there is a compromise of such sensitive information to the client.”
“Some really critical questions need to be asked to assure us or those who use the banking facilities that the backgrounds of bank staff are checked, secured, and they are routinely also checked again because [this kind of crimes] raises serious fundamental questions because of the gang-style manner in which this operation was carried”, Prof. Aning emphasized.
