The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), James Oppong-Boanuh, has deployed armed men from two divisions of the Ghana Police Service in a special reinforcement operation in response to rampant robbery attacks on the Tamale – Bolgatanga stretch of the N10 highway.
The 29-member anti-armed robbery squad drawn from the Counter-Terrorism and the Formed Police Units arrived over the weekend at Walewale in the West Mamprusi municipality.
The robbery squad will secure the 160km stretch of the international highway – where armed gangs, carrying out robbery operations – appear to have overpowered the ill-equipped local police and a small number of a joint team of soldiers and personnel of the Counter-Terrorism Unit.
The deployment follows a red flag raised by members of the Ghana National Tomatoes Traders and Transporters Association, in a protest held in Kumasi, where they threatened to suspend the transit of tomatoes and onions from neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger following the increasing activities of robbers on the highway.
Joy News’ Eliasu Tanko, however, reports that in spite of the reinforcement, some truck drivers traveling on the highway still feel anxious over the development and want a police escort to be assigned to their vehicles to ensure safe passage on the route.
