Volta Police Chief joins night patrols

The Volta Regional Police Commander, ACP Fred Agyapong Asare has joined his men on night patrols in the region in a bid to heighten their morale patrol duties.

As a result, he had ordered all municipal, district and divisional commanders to intensify their security activities.

The move is part of efforts by the Regional Police Command to stem out the spate of highway robbery in the region.

This was revealed by the Regional Commander, ACP Asare in an interview with DAILY GUIDE.

He explained that as the leader of his men, he must show example for all other commanders to do same in order for the others to have no reason to be lackadaisical in the discharge of their duties.

“We have sent directives to all district commanders; you the district commander must take part in the patrol,” he said.

He explained that this would also check the activities of the other men and ensure that night patrols were done to satisfaction to avert highway robberies and other night crimes.

ACP Asare cautioned that any municipal, district and divisional commander who defied the directive would have to answer to him.

He stressed that “I’m not going to take No for an answer; if anything should happen, am going to knock you first before… before I go to the boys, because if me as the Regional Commander goes on night patrol with the men, I don’t expect you, a district officer to be sleeping in the house.”

The directive followed the increasing spate of highways robberies, with the most recent occurring between Tsito and Kponvi barrier on the Ho-Accra highways two weeks ago. The robbery involved Mrs Juliana Azumah Mensah, Member of Parliament for Agotime Ziope and a former Minister for Women and Children Affairs.

The Regional Commander noted that because of the deplorable nature of some roads in the region, armed robbers have resorted to plying their illegal operations within those bad and bushy stretches of the roads.

He however, said the police had intensified their patrols on the roads especially, within the deplorable portions and other trouble spots to ensure maximum security for motorists.

“We have increased our presence on the roads in the night, along where we suspect robbers can easily congregate and operate, especially where the road is very bad.”

The Assistant Commissioner of Police, Fred Asare also disclosed at the media briefing that, the Volta Regional Police Command would be embarking on an operation very soon to arrest and prosecute motorists who would fall foul to the road traffic regulations so as to ensure sanity on the roads.

He asked taxi drivers to display the taxi signage on top of their vehicles to ensure proper identification of their vehicles especially at nights. “We’re going to undertake an operation very soon to arrest all of them (traffic offenders) to bring sanity on the roads”.

He also cautioned commercial motorbike (Okada) operators to desist from their activities, since the road traffic regulations abhorred the use of motorbikes for commercial transport.