Two ‘NADMO officers’ arrested for extortion

Two persons, who posed as safety officers of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and allegedly extorted money from fuel station owners in Agona Swedru, have been arrested.

According to the Agona Swedru District Police Command, the two – 53-year-old Laura Winifred Ntow and Evans Fynn, 34 – had been going round fuel stations in the area under the pretext of conducting safety audit.

A 25-year-old taxi driver, Francis Atobo, who was hired at Winneba by the two suspects for the operation has also been arrested.

Police investigations have revealed the two suspects have been operating in other regions including Central, Eastern and Greater Accra.

Items found on them included GHC35, a file containing documents that show the number of fuel stations they visited prior to their arrest Friday.

The Police say they have been operating for three years now.

Swedru District Police commander, Supt. Seth Yirenkyi, told TV3 the two suspects claimed they were sent by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to conduct the audit.

They, however, failed to show proof of their claims during interrogation, the Commander said.

Authorities at the NADMO office in Agona West Municipal said NADMO does not conduct safety audit, but rather monitor fuel stations to check for actions or things that could trigger disaster.

They indicated that it is the Ghana National Fire Service that is mandated to conduct such safety audit.