There has been an uptick in crime for three years in a row in the northern region, statistics from the Ghana Police Service in the region have revealed. According to law enforcement authorities, the surge is in all categories of crime. Though figures vary from year to year, police say the trend was very worrying.
A breakdown of the numbers show that in 2014, the region recorded 42 murder cases, defilement 29, rape 16, abduction 19, possession of fire arms without authorization 10 and possession of narcotic drug without authorization 6.
However, 2015 saw the highest increase in almost all major offenses. The year recorded 50 defilement cases,36 murders, 36 robberies, 20 rapes, 22 abductions, 18 cases of possession of firearms and 10 cases of possession of narcotic drugs.
2016 started off on a bad footing, police say, as the first quarter has already recorded 12 murder cases, 15 cases of defilement, 7 rapes, 5 abductions, 5 possession of firearms, 3 robberies and 2 possessions of narcotic drugs without authorization.
The Deputy Northern Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mr E.J Akrofi-Oyirifi disclosed this at a ceremony to mark this year’s West Africa Security Services Association (WASSA) celebrations in Tamale.
WASSA was a tradition established by the colonial British Officers to host Africa soldiers working under them at the end of each year.It has since been adopted by various security services to celebrate the end of a working year and reward deserving personnel.
To curb the crime rate, ACP Akrofi-Oyirifi said the command has put in place measures to counter the activities of criminals both within the communities and on the highway. Night patrols within the metropolis with the numbers of personnel deployed has been increased.
Motor traffic offenses
The command was not happy about motorists flouting road traffic regulations within the metropolis with impunity leading to avoidable accidents some being fatal.
Our hospitals are also most often inundated with accident victims putting pressure on the emergency and accident wards, the deputy police commander lamented.
Preparation towards November 7
The command, in anticipation of potential post-election bickering among the various political parties, has inaugurated a regional Elections Security Task Force and various committees have been established to deal with the problem.
ACP Akrofi-Oyirifi said the police will soon engage political parties and other stakeholders in a series of meetings on related issues to ensure incident free and credible elections. The command appealed to political parties to make themselves available for such engagements.
In addition, the regional police command has also set-up a Political Investigation Desk (PID) at the police regional headquarters to deal with all election related cases expeditiously to their logical and lawful conclusions.
