Police Seize Weapons In WR

The police in the Western Region have seized a cache of arms and ammunition mainly from Asankrabreman and Wassa Akropong in the Amenfi West and East Districts of the region respectively.

The weapons, both foreign and locally manufactured and numbering about 13, were confiscated by the police in collaboration with members of the Watchdog Committee in the area.

They included five pump action guns, four locally manufactured pistols, two AK47 assault rifles, one single-barrel gun, one foreign pistol and many rounds of ammunition.

So far, about five suspects have been arrested in connection with the case and some have been jailed while others are currently being tried before a court of law.

Briefing journalists, DCOP Isaac Alex Quainoo, Regional Police Commander, stressed that his outfit was poised to search for illegal arms and ammunition in the region particularly during this election year.

He disclosed that on September 28, 2015, some workers of Millicom Ghana Limited, operators of Tigo mobile telecommunication network, went to weed around one of their masts located in a bush at Wassa Akropong and in the course of the work they came across two pump action guns.

The workers quickly alerted the police who went to the scene to retrieve the weapons. The regional commander suspected that the guns might have been used by some robbers.

He mentioned that though no one had been arrested in connection with those weapons, he believed that the retrieval would thwart the plot of the robbers who might have deposited them in that bush for a planned robbery attack.

The Regional Commander added that the police in Wassa Akropong also retrieved two pump action guns from a robbery scene at a galamsey site after the peace officers had information that suspected armed robbers were attacking people at the site.

He pointed out that by the time the police got to the site, the armed robbers had absconded but left the weapons there, which they (police) took and sent to the police station.

He added that the police in the area also retrieved a pump action gun and a pistol from a suspected robber at Akropong.

Later, someone who heard the story went to the police station and identified the pump action gun as his, which was robbed from him at a galamsey site.

“The police have not released the weapon to the claimant because investigations are continuing,” DCOP Quainoo added.

He indicated that the vigilance of the members of the Watchdog Committee at Asankabreman near Asankragwaa had also led to the retrieval of four pistols from a resident in the area, one Abubakar Alari, now at large.

From Emmanuel Opoku, Sekondi