Robberies up 26.8%; 5 per day – Police

A total of 1,772 robbery cases were recorded at the end of the year 2017 across the country, as compared to 1,397 cases in the year 2016, the Ghana Police Service has disclosed.

“This shows an increase of 375 robbery cases as compared to that of 2016 representing 26.8%,” the law enforcement agency stated in its Annual Crime Statistics report for 2017.

Statistics indicate that approximately five cases of robbery were recorded daily in the year 2017.

The report added that 29 foreign nationals including 17 Chinese, two Germans, one Irish, two Dutch, four Nigerians, two Koreans, and one Lebanese were attacked by robbers.

Fifteen Chinese nationals were arrested for mining without lawful authority.

Fourteen expatriates, including nine British, one Chinese, one Spaniard, one Indian, one Beninese and one Gabonese perished through unnatural deaths.

Police managed to arrest 241 suspected robbers nationwide as against 232 the previous year. The robbers arrested include nine policemen.

A total of 26 lives were lost through armed robbery in the year 2017 as compared to 79 in the year 2016. Out of these, 20 were innocent victims including three policemen while six were armed robbers who engaged police in a shootout. Eight female robbery victims were raped, one to death. 102 robbery victims sustained various degrees of injury including eight police men who were shot and injured.

The police said the public were educated not to take the law into their own hands by meting out instant justice to suspected criminals. Nevertheless, four of such cases were recorded over the period.