Armed robbers open fire on a policeman

Two unidentified men believed to be armed robbers have shot a police officer at Navrongo in the Upper East region of Ghana.

Corporal Gordon Pwatirah was shot four times in the back when he reportedly resisted attempts by the gang to snatch his motorcycle from him on the Bolgatanga-Navrongo Highway.

The Upper East Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Simon Afeku, told Starr News the victim is at the Intensive Care Unit of the Upper East Regional Hospital amid a manhunt to find the perpetrators of the gun attack.

“He actually resisted the attack and the armed men shot him four times at the back. But he managed and rode the bike to the Bolgatanga hospital. And, then, he was admitted and operated upon where one pellet was removed from his chest. We will continue monitoring his condition. The Regional CID is investigating. We are going after the attackers not because he is a policeman but just like we have always been doing,” DCOP Afeku disclosed.

The Regional Commander also lamented what he described as blatant refusal of some residents in the region to expose the criminals in their midst.

“These gentlemen (criminals) are not people we should have in the society. We live with them. They are our relations. We know them that these are the types of crimes that they engage in. But we continue encouraging them. Let me take this platform to appeal to each and every one that security is a shared responsibility. We must let these people out to be brought before the law so that the law deals with them, so that they don’t continue operating,” he stressed.

Stealing, according to the Regional Police Command, is the most prevalent crime in the region “sometimes with some spate of motorbike snatching” particularly in the regional capital, Bolgatanga.