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05.05.2007 General News

Police crusader robbed of his mobile phone

05.05.2007 LISTEN
By myjoyonline

A policeman who has been campaigning against mob lynching of criminals (commonly called mob-justice in Ghana) had a taste of the bitterness crime victims go through when they are dispossessed of their property.

Police Chief Inspector Nketia Yeboah had his mobile phone stolen from him while he travelled in a passenger car from Tema to Accra.

Chief Inspector Yeboah told The Mirror newspaper that he was appalled that a thief could steal a phone from a policeman in uniform in broad daylight.

He is in charge of public affairs at the Tema Regional Command, and has been encouraging news reporters to include in their reports admonishing against the lynching of mobile phone snatchers and other crime suspects.

He has often encouraged journalists to educate the public on the need to hand over crime suspects to the police instead of taking the law into their own hands.

"Police personnel have often intervened and rescued phone thieves from being lynched by mobs. I am surprised that a thief should steal a phone from a policeman in uniform", he told he Mirror after the incident.

According to him his phone was stolen from his pocket while he was on his way to Cape Coast from Tema to make enquiries in connection with a crime under investigation.

Chief Inspector Yeboah said he initially intended boarding a Tema-Cape Coast Vanef-STC bus, but found the scheduled time of departure of the bus unsuitable. He, therefore boarded a Tema-Accra Urvan bus so that he could continue the journey from Accra.

''There is some speculation that carrying a mobile phone in the front pocket of one's shirt for long periods could be harmful to health, so I carried the phone in a side pocket of the trousers of my uniform. The pocket is located close to the knee and I thought the phone was secure", he said.

He said on arrival in Accra, he reached for the phone but it had vanished.

"It was stolen during the journey from Tema to Accra. I sat between several people and it was difficult to say which of them stole the phone."

Chief Inspector Yeboah said by the time he had recovered from the shock, those who had sat by him in the bus had melted into a crowd at the bus terminal.

However, not deterred, he insisted that the lynching of mobile phone thieves must be discouraged.

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