Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Obiri Boahen posits that it is wrong for anyone to suggest to President Akufo-Addo to remove the Inspector General of Police (IGP), David Asante-Apeatu, from office as it is not the solution to the incessant armed robbery attacks.
Reports of robberies in Accra and Tema in the Greater Accra Region have engendered public debate about the ability of police to protect lives and properties.
In the wake of that, Deputy Minority Chief Whip, Ahmed Ibrahim, argued that the IGP is to blame for the seeming confidence of the robbers saying, Mr. Asante-Apeatu seems to be doing little to address a problem which is evoking a sense of fear and insecurity among the citizenry.
“Immediately this IGP assumed office, there were cries from other sectors that he might not be able to deliver. And now, with what we are seeing in the country within this short period, even within January and March, it has been worse. If we sit down to be told by the IGP that security is under control, it points to the fact that he himself is not aware of the problem. Therefore once he doesn’t know the problem, he cannot solve it,” the legislator told Citi News.
“If the IGP is not aware that Policemen are dying, expatriates are dying, businessmen are being attacked, Forex bureaus are being attacked, we are losing investor confidence [its unfortunate]. It looks as if we are retrogressing in terms of security, and therefore the first person to be chased is the Police IGP because he is supposed to be on retirement and they brought him on contract. If you come and contract and you are not bringing anything new on the table, go and a new person will come with new ideas and new policies and the security situation we may be able to bring it under control,” he added.
But speaking on Ghanaweb.com’s ’21 Minutes with KKB’, Nana Obiri Boahen averred that the IGP’s dismissal will not be the solution to the brazen attacks by armed robbers on companies and individuals in broad daylight. According to him, it is the responsibility of every citizen to ensure their safety.
“Why [should the IGP go]? Not at all,” said Nana Obiri Boahen. Even if I don’t feel safe, I think it is the concerted effort of all of us. I beg to differ. We don’t need to play politics with this. We need to be each other’s keeper.”
Proposing what he describes as the best panacea to the issue, he called for the “installation of CCTV cameras” claiming it would offer between 80 and 90 percent solution to the canker.
Robbery cases
A Lebanese businessman was on Wednesday shot and killed by a group of armed robbers in broad daylight at the Tema Industrial Area after he withdrew some amount of money from a bank.
Reports suggest the armed robbers trailed the man, popularly known as Alhaji, after he left the bank at about 11:30 am in his Toyota Corolla vehicle, shot and killed him before making away with the GH¢200,000 in that operation.
Prior to this incident, armed robbers had stormed Royal Motors, an automobile company in Accra and made away with the company’s sales in a stunning daylight robbery.
