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10.05.2008 General News

PATROLLING THE HIGHWAYS

10.05.2008 LISTEN
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THE high incidence of armed robbery and recklessness of motorists especially on the country’s highways give cause for concern.

Recently, a group of armed robbers attacked a bus carrying traders, killing one of them and injuring some others on the Tamale-Gushegu road.

Police sources told our correspondent, that the robbers laid ambush a few kilometres to the village and attacked vehicles.

There is also another report of two armed robbers who were jailed 30 years each by a Kumasi circuit court for highway robbery.

Apart from the robberies there are also offences, such as overloading, overspeeding, drunk-driving, abandonment of faulty vehicles, and worn-out tyres among others by motorists.

The Times believes that in order to curb the high incidence of armed robbery, there is the need for joint police-military patrol teams to be deployed on the highways.

These servicemen should concentrate their operations on important market places where market women have been attacked and molested by gangsters.

In deploying the joint teams on the highways, we must not lose sight of residential areas and other parts of the cities in the regions where armed robberies are on the ascendancy.

The activities of armed robbers have shattered homes and driven law-abiding citizens into perennial despondency and fear.

It is a known fact that some unscrupulous police personnel are in league with these robbers, and we urge the leadership of the Police Service to caution personnel to desist from such diabolical practices because it does not help the service.

The public must also be ready at any time to assist the police in its investigations without being forced to do so.

We also appeal to motorists to observe the rules and regulations enshrined in the Road Traffic Act to avoid unnecessary accidents on the highways.

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