When robbers turn to operating in broad daylight and in a sophisticated fashion, they have become too daring for comfort and safety.
The Hyundai/Renault sales point robbery in an Accra suburb last week which resulted in the gunning down of two of the robbers is a subject that should not be overlooked.
Even as we salute the cops for their decisive response, we cannot ignore the cashier’s close shave with death. She drew a stray bullet in the firefight between the cops and the robbers. It would have been regrettable had the cashier died in the event. We wish her speedy recovery.
After a long lull in the activities of robbers across the country, the daredevils are creeping back to the public space and with a worrying vengeance of sorts.
Tomato traders, most of them women, who travel from the South to the Northern fringes of the country for this important vegetable, are now the targets of the robbers.
Having found in the highway leading to Bolga and Navrongo from Tamale a source of quick money, the robbers have in the past few months stalked and attacked these women as they head for the source of the vegetables, robbing them of huge sums of money acquired over many years of hard work. The women recently threatened to abandon the venture given the risks involved.
We cannot fold our arms as robbers take over our highways because they are daring and have access to modern firearms.
The West Mamprusi Municipal Assembly’s Security Committee has embarked on the patrolling of the road which traverses their part of the highway. We congratulate the brains behind the decision and encourage them not to rest on their oars until the robbers are flushed out.
Others should emulate the example of the Assembly so that a collective effort can be mounted in the fight against the marauders.
The effects of the robbers’ consistent success will result in economic hardship for the traders and farmers of tomatoes up-North.
The multiple repercussions of the foregone can only be conjectured. The women tomato traders are household managers who feed hundreds of mouths and so their contribution to the economy should drive us to desire to stop the robbers.
Decisive actions against the marauders are required and the public as we have always stated should support the police with information that can stop the robbers from functioning. The security of the country as a national assignment is a shared task between law enforcement and the public. No information is too small to be shared with the police.
With local firearms previously at the disposal of the armed robbers now diminishing from their arsenals as it were, they now wield sophisticated weapons. This has compounded the work of law enforcement and threatened the safety of the public even more.
It is time to study the trend of weapon smuggling into the country and to launch a more effective means of reversing it. To think that these firearms are available on a thriving black market for arms adds to our apprehension.
Police intelligence should be revamped to do more in tracking down the weapon pushers on the black market.