Armed robbers seize Kejetia from Police

Armed robbers are having a field day at the congested Kejetia Lorry terminal by subjecting passengers and traders to naked robbery within and outside the lorry terminal, especially in the night.

The criminals are being aided by the 24-hour load shedding as poor traders and travellers are robbed of their wallets and personal belongings at gunpoint and with other deadly weapons, under the watch of the Kejetia Police, which has only two police personnel on duty.

This paper has gathered that the Bantama taxi rank, the Accra station, the Barclays and PZ entrance to Kejetia have been taken over by these miscreants who engage in their nefarious operations.

Credible information reaching The Chronicle indicates that the robbers sleep with under-aged female partners in the open at the terminal during the night. Some of the traders who talked to this paper noted that security at the terminal is nothing to write home about and that the situation gets worse when the lights are off.

They complained that non-compliance of orders by victims to the robbers might result in the loss of their lives and attributed the situation to the ineffectiveness of the police in their night patrol duties at the place.

The visibly worried traders noted that the Police have lately stopped the usual patrols and this has led to a field day by the robbers.

“Even when we manage to arrest them and hand them over to the police, they (criminals) are released to continue visiting mayhem on us, suggesting that the police are in bed with the criminals”, a trader complained.

A private security officer who spoke to The Chronicle disclosed that when he once attempted to stop a criminal from picking from somebody’s pocket and stealing from a passenger; he was shot at by the thugs. He said security at the terminal is compromised.

Reached on phone to react to the state of security in Kejetia, Mr. David Agyei, manager of the Kejetia Lorry Terminal admitted that there was a security challenge, in spite of the 24 hour security his outfit provides at the facility.

The Public Relation Officer of the Police, ASP Mohammed Tanko, in a telephone interview said the Kejetia Police have been updating the Command of activities at Kejetia and that even though the Police cannot completely eradicate crime from society, a lot of measures have been put in place to lower the menace to the barest minimum. He urged victims of crimes in Kejetia to report to the Police to assist in fighting the crime.

Meanwhile, Ernest Best Anane reports that ASP Mohammed Tanko, Public Relations Officer of the Regional Command has stressed at a media briefing that the Regional police command is doing everything possible to reduce robbery rates.

He said it was pertinent for commuters to adopt precautionary and preventive measures so that they do not become easy prey for criminals.

According to him, the Police Command has created a lot of snap checks points throughout the metropolis during the evenings and visibility points during the day, and that any person with any security challenge is entreated to fall on them for assistance.