The Northern Regional Police Command has withdrawn all patrols and visibility snap-checks in the Tamale metropolis over safety concerns.
This follows the recent shooting incident at Lamashegu that resulted in the death of one person and the injury of several others.
The police contend that the incident has heightened their fears and that they cannot risk their lives to embark on patrols in the area.
Since the incident occurred three weeks ago, the police have withdrawn both day and night patrols and snap-checks for fear of their lives as some aggrieved youth constantly threaten to attack them.
This has resulted in an increase in some pockets of crime, including car-snatching incidents in the metropolis in the past days.
The Northern Regional Police Crime Officer, Superintendent Bernard Baba Ananga, in an interview with the Daily Graphic said the command had decided to withdraw the patrols for fear of the officers’ lives because they always received threats.
“Until such a time that the people assure us that they won’t attack us, we can’t risk it. Our officers receive threats every day, which is very dangerous for us to operate,” he said.
Shooting incident
At least one person, a fresh Junior High School graduate, died from gunshot wounds as police officers engaged some youth in violent hostilities on Sunday, February 13, 2022.
The incident was said to have occurred when a man driving an unregistered vehicle allegedly ignored a signal by a police patrol team to stop.
The police then chased and fired at him as he drove into the palace of the Lamashegu chief for refuge.
Reacting to the incident, the youth pelted stones at the police and burnt lorry tyres on the streets.
Concerns
Meanwhile, some residents have expressed worry about the withdrawal of police patrols in the metropolis, saying the situation had heightened their fears over criminal attacks.
A resident, Adam Sule, said, “These days we are afraid to move out in the night because we don’t see police patrolling the streets. I have heard a number of robbery reports, which is very disturbing.”
Another resident, Ayisha Razak, appealed to authorities to as a matter of urgency resolve the issue between the police and the youth of the metropolis to enable the former to discharge their duties peacefully.
Source: graphic.com.gh
