The safety of this Nation must not be taken up in all diligence

The Coalition of Civil Society Against Political Vigilantism (CCSAPV) says the safety of Ghana must not be taken up in all diligence.

 This follows the incident that happened at Ejura in the Ashanti Region which caused the death of Ibrahim Mohammed alias Kaaka.

In a press statement signed by the President of CCSAPV, Eben Kweku Fanuku in no uncertain terms condemned the gruesome murder of  Ibrahim Mohammed, a.k.a Kaaka, the opening of fire into a crowd of protestors and the subsequent killing of two protestors who were coming back from his burial on Tuesday, 29th June 2020.

The Coalition condemned the use of the police and the military as a tool to commit such atrocities against ordinary Ghanaian citizens.

"The voice of the ordinary Ghanaian should not and cannot be stifled with guns or any kind of weapon by any of the security forces or a joint team," the statement disclosed.

it further revealed that the state of security in the country needs urgent attention; the government, the Ministry of the Interior, National Security and the law enforcement agencies cannot treat this issue with the chronic Ghanaian, hide and seek, a lackadaisical and lethargic approach which we usually attach to issues that glaringly need urgent attention.

They called on the aforementioned institutions to come up with a clear roadmap and a practical and workable solution to nip this burgeoning danger in the bud as soon as possible.

 “The IGP should with immediate effect withdraw the services of policemen and women in escorts of bullion vans until the Bank of Ghana and the Association of Ghana Bankers provides them with proper bullions that are armoured, state of the art and with hidden cameras,” it added.

“The June 30th ultimatum given to The Association of Bankers by the IGP to provide properly armoured bullion vans is dangerously too far away because on Thursday, June 17th 2021 a few days after the Jamestown bullion attack, another bullion van narrowly escaped a robbery attack at Gomoa Dominase in the Central Region,” it stressed

“With immediate effect, the leadership of the Ghana Police must sign a memorandum of understanding  with the Bank of Ghana and the Association of Ghana Bankers that “no armoured bullion vans, no police escort”, it explained

 “Streetlights must be erected on dark, obscure roads with surrounding thickets and overgrown bushes like the one on the Fiesta Royale- Gimpa road cleared or removed to curtail the activities of armed robbers, and way layers”, it says

“Accordingly, the Ghana Police must intentionally create checkpoints or barriers at such flashpoints and hideouts in the so many similar places all over the country to scare criminals and bandits with their visibility and presence,” it elaborated.

Ahenkorah Odura Mary