A/R: Police foil robbery attack at mining site, arrest 4 including teenager

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The police have thwarted plans of four men who were allegedly in the midst of planning a robbery operation in the Ashanti region of Ghana.

The armed gang, including a teenager, were arrested by police at Jacobu in the Amansie Central District of the Ashanti region upon a tip-off.

The suspects have been named as Prince Afful, 28, Prince Adjei, 24, Kwadwo Sarpong, 27 and 19-year-old Emmanuel Kesse.

Arrest

Jacobu District Police Commander, Supt Abdullai Iddrisu told the media at a press conference Wednesday that the suspects were heading to the Krobo Mining Site at Aboagyekrom, near Jacobu to carry out their operation when they were arrested by police patrol team on Sunday, June 23, 2019.

According to the police chief, one of the suspects, who has only been identified as Ike, managed to escape arrest.

Police also retrieved two sets of military uniform, one dismantled pump-action gun, a pistol, 17 BB live cartridges, a cutter and a number of disposal handcuffs were found in a Daewoo Matiz taxi cab with registration number BA 2855–17 during a search.

Supt Iddrisu said the items were hidden inside the inner panel of the car doors to prevent detection, adding that the men had plotted to rob a Ghanaian mining company where they had carried out similar operations.

The four, according to the commander, admitted during interrogation that they were going to engage a Chinese national; even though police investigation revealed otherwise.

“The four, will soon be arraigned before court”, said Supt Iddrisu adding that a search is underway to arrest other accomplices.

Armed Robbery

Meanwhile, the Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Dery has said the Ghana Police Service is introducing additional security measures to deal robustly with armed robbery.

Among the measures are the employment of more personnel, increased patrols in communities along the highways, as well as stepping up intelligence across the country.

The Minister, answering questions related to the armed robbery problem on the floor of Parliament, said the cumulative effect of all the efforts has had an impact in reducing armed robbery in the country.

The answer was in response to a question asked by Albert Akuka Alalzuuga, MP for Garu, who wanted to know what measures the ministry was putting in place to reduce armed robbery in the country.

The Minister assured Ghanaians that the Government is very much committed to the fight against the armed robbery menace in the country, and it is equipping the Ghana Police Service with patrol vehicles as well as other logistical support to enable them to discharge their mandate effectively.

Mr Dery informed the House that the Bolgatanga-Bawku-Garu highways in the Upper East Region have been factored in the operational plan of the Ghana Police Service, and the joint Police/Military patrols codenamed “Operation Calm Life” has also been intensified in the fight against crime and armed robbery.

He said last year, the government approved the recruitment of 4000 personnel into the Ghana Police Service of which 2000 are currently undergoing training at various centres in the country.

More so, he said, the government in the past 18 months presented 491 vehicles to the Service.

“The cumulative effect of all these efforts has had an impact in reducing armed robbery in the country,” Mr Dery said, adding that recorded armed robbery cases from the period June to December 2018 was 1,101 and that of January 2019 to date is 868.

The Interior Minister appealed to the public to provide information and cooperate with security officials to arrest armed robbers and other criminals.

Source: Daily Mail GH