As part of efforts by the Volta regional police command to stem the spate of highway robbery in the region, the Regional Commander, ACP Fred Agyepong Asare has directed all district commanders in the region to partake in the night patrols within their jurisdiction.
“We have sent directives to all district commanders; you the district commander must take part in the patrol” ACP Asare, said in at a media briefing, in Ho.
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, involving Mrs. Juliana Azumah Mensah, Member of Parliament for Ho East and a former Minister for Women and Children Affairs.
The regional commander noted that because of the deplorable nature of some portions of the roads in the region, arm robbers have resorted to plying their illegal operations within those bad and bushy stretches of the roads.
He however, said the police have intensified their patrols on the roads especially, within the deplorable portions 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”.
ACP Asare also sent a caution to district commanders who may defy this directive saying “am 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”.
Meanwhile The Assistant Commissioner of Police, Fred Asare also disclosed at the media briefing that, the Volta regional police command will be embarking on an operation very soon to arrest and prosecute motorists who fall foul of 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 a regulation abhors the use of motorbikes for commercial transport, stressing that “when I take you, we’re going to court. You’ll go straight to face the magistrate or the judge; there must be discipline in the system”.
