Guns used by criminals in Ghana traced to Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, others - Small Arms Commission

The proliferation of small arms which is becoming a security nightmare for the country has been traced to neighboring Burkina Faso, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone, the Small Arms Commission has disclosed.

Programmes Director at the Small Arms Commission, Johnson Asante Twum, told Kasapa 102.5 Fm that there is a burgeoning illicit small arms market supplying hoodlums and bandits who then transport them through the porous borders into various countries for their criminal activities.

“Most of their armory were out-run by rebels in the heady days of the wars in those countries. Because of the weak security system, those countries have still not been able to retrieve the weapons that ended up in the hands of the aftermath of the rebel the conflicts. Now the same weapons because the wars have seized in these countries are being sold to criminals in the sub-region, including Ghana who are chasing for them to aid their criminal activities,” he said in an interview with host Kweku Owusu Adjei on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa Fm.

His comment comes in the wake of the chilling reports of the shooting of police officers in their line of duties by criminals.

In just one month, five police officers have been killed across the country while discharging their duties.

The latest is the shooting to death of two police officers, Sergeant Michael Gyamasi and Lance Corporal Awal Mohammed, at Kasoa Budumburam in the Central Region by armed robbers on Wednesday, 28th August 2019 while on task force duties on the Kasoa-Winneba highway.

One of them died instantly while the other passed away while receiving critical attention at a hospital.

The police yesterday afternoon arrested three other suspects — Ibrahim Zakaria, Isaac Amissah and Dominic Commey

The vehicle used in committing the crime, an unregistered Toyota Camry has also been retrieved together with some relevant items, an update from the police said, while investigations have commenced into the incident.

Mr. Twum Asante has condemned the killing of the cops and the seeming gun threats to the society, saying there must be a concerted effort to stem the tide.