MTTU, GRA go after unlicensed motors

The Motor Transport and Traffic Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service (GPS) in the Northern Region has partnered the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to apprehend motorists without due Custom documents.

The Deputy Northern Regional Commander, ACPE J. Akrofi-Oyirifi, said the majority of motorists and vehicles plying the region have not been duly registered, thereby affecting the income generation of government.

He disclosed this at the 2016 West Africa Security Services Association (WASSA) celebration in Tamale.

The annual event is used to review police performance of the previous year, and also to plan the way forward.

It is also to appreciate the tremendous efforts and contributions as well as commitment of gallant policemen/women in the course of performing their duties.

Reviewing the police performance in the region for 2015 against the previous year, the Deputy Commander said the region recorded 12 murders in the first quarter of 2016 as against 36 in 2015 and 42 in 2014.

There were three robberies in the first quarter of 2016 against 36 in 2015 and 29 in 2014; possession of arms stood at five in the first quarter of 2016, 18 in 2015 and 10 in 2014; while narcotic drugs arrests recorded two in the first quarter, ten in 2015 and six in 2014.

Defilement cases recorded 15 in the first quarter, 50 in 2015 and 38 in 2014; with rape cases recording seven in 2016, 20 in 2015 and 16 in 2014 -- while abduction was five in the first quarter, 22 in 2015, and 19 in 2014.

He stressed that the remarkable drop in crime rate this year is as the result of vigorous and prudent security measures the command put in place to counter activities of criminals, both within communities and on highways - with police escorts for commuters on the highways at night to avert attacks.

This, he said, has made the region to record no robbery case this year.

“There has been an intensification of night patrols within the Metropolis, with increase personnel to ensure sanity,” he added.

He stressed that the regional patrol department, known as ‘visibility’, has been performing amicably in ensuring total reduction of crime rates to enable the residents go about their socio-economic activities without fear.

“In dealing with the menace of defilement and rape cases that have bedevilled the region, the regional Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit(DOVVSU) with support from the UNICEF and UNFPS has embarked on intensive sensitisation programmes across the region to help vulnerable young girls and women,” he stated.

He said the command has embarked on some expansions within the region to enhance the provision of security.

He expressed worries about most districts in the region without police districts and station, the lack of which hampers activities in the various districts.

ACP Akrofi-Oyirifi said; “The command has therefore elevated Gambaga, Salaga and Damongo to divisional status, while police districts have also been opened at Chereponi, Kpandai, Kumbungu and Tatale”.