Eastern Regional Minister requests more police personnel to curb highway robberies

Eastern Regional Minister Seth Kwame Acheampong has requested the deployment of more police personnel in the region to curb rising spate of highway robberies in the region.

The request follows a series of robbery attacks in the region. Last week one person was shot by highway robbers at dawn on the Koforidua-Akyem Kukurantumi road.

The robbers mounted roadblocks at about 4:30am at Barfuor Nkwanta near the Sorkode Dwaso junction stretch of the road where Police mostly conduct checks on commuting vehicles.

About 20 vehicles were allegedly robbed by the suspects who made away with a total of Ghc50,000, according to a victim who spoke to Starr News. The incident created gridlock on the road as vehicles could not cross to either Koforidua, Akyem Tafo or Bunso.

Similar robbery attacks have been recorded in other parts of the region.

Speaking to Starr News Eastern Regional Minister Seth Acheampong disclosed inadequate logistics and personnel has made it challenging for the situation to be addressed.

“The Eastern Region has an elaborate road network and we require a lot of logistics when it comes to patrolling effectively the community and so our request is already gone out there that we require more, first and foremost, men to augment the existing numbers that we have and then at the same time, logistics: patrol vehicles, so that presence of our security personnel will deter miscreants and criminals who have targeted certain areas that they want to attack. I believe with these things, it will help.”

Mr. Acheampong however assured residents some covert measures have been put in place to deal with the armed robbery attacks.

“You know we can’t spell out all your strategies when it comes to what we intend doing. But we are very much determined to go after them. It is only that, we’ve been experiencing some challenges.”

The former Chairman for the Defense and Interior Committee of Parliament further assured the age-old recurring clashes between nomadic herdsmen and local farmers is been addressed through some other means rather than the use of brute force.

“On the nomadic herdsmen –crop farmers relationship. We are using other mechanisms of mediation to see how best we’ll resolve that. Recently, just about a week ago, some Cow leg operatives were in the Kwahu South municipality to effect some operations and all those ones are ongoing and we are asking that we all engage and then make sure we bring some peace and stability but above all, unity among our people because we are one nation.”