Regional Minister takes a tough stand against criminals

Anum (E/R), May 21, GNA - Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, Eastern Regional Minister, on Thursday said as long as he remained chairman of the Regiona= l Security Committee, nobody would be allowed to take the law into his or h= er own hands. He also assured the police that the necessary support and encouragem= ent would be given them to enable them to be above criminal activities in the=

region so that people could go about their duties peacefully.

Mr Ofosu-Ampofo was speaking at the inauguration of a new GH¢ 130,= 000 Police Station at Anum. He disclosed that the police at dawn on Thursday arrested 70 suspect= s at Asenema who participated in the destruction and burning of a house of a fetish priest in the town as well as the houses of relatives of the fetis= h priest on mere suspicion. Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said when the fetish priest sought the assistance of=

the police to collect the remains of his property from the village the suspects chased the vehicle and set it on fire, completely burning it and=

all his property.

Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said earlier when the Chief of Adukrom, Nana Otutu Kono, who had oversight responsibility over the village tried to mediate in the disturbances the suspects ended up deflating the tyre of his car park= ed outside the palace.

He said if such indiscipline was allowed to continue, the country wo= uld end up in anarchy and advised the youth to resort to peaceful means of resolution of their grievances rather than taking the law into their hand= s. Mr Ofosu-Ampofo appealed to the police administration to increase th= e number of police personnel at the police station who are only three in number. He urged the chiefs and people of Anum to release their houses to be=

used as police barracks to enable the police get a place to sleep when posted to the area.

The District Chief Executive, Mr Johnson Ahiakpor, expressed his appreciation for the peaceful conditions existing in the Anum area which helped in the early completion of the police station. He advised the youth to respect authority, especially traditional rulers to help minimize cases that would be sent to the police. Nana Appiah Kumi, Paramount Chief of Anum, in a speech read for him,=

appealed for an increase in the number of police personnel in the town. The Akosombo Divisional Commander of Police, Chief Superintendent A.= A. Adjei, appealed to the District Assembly to build barracks to the police since the old police station had collapsed and the police did not have anywhere to stay.