Criminal gangs must be tamed
Crime, particularly violent crime, appears to be on the increase in recent times. If it is not armed robbers depriving people of their valuables and, in some cases, killing them, we have reports of spouses ending the lives of their loved ones because of very fundamental disagreements.
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The security agencies are doing their best, but we still have some elements within our society who are bent on destabilising the country.
What is going on has been described in certain circles as ‘contract killing’. The gruesome murder of the Omanhene of the Seikwa Traditional Area, Nana Kwaku Dwuma Ankoanna II, and similar murders in the past must be a wake-up call to the security agencies to revise their notes on crime combat.
If this is allowed to take root in our country as we hear about in neighbouring countries, then our people will be hindered in their daily endeavours. That, certainly, will affect individual livelihoods and the national economy, as the people will be constrained in carrying out their activities.
That Ghana is on the move in all fields of national endeavour is not a fluke. In spite of challenges in various sectors, we appear to be on course to achieving the goals of nationhood.
Regrettably, violent crimes, such as the one that rocked Seikwa last Monday, create the impression that we are as violent and barbaric as the citizens of failed states where criminal gangs have taken over with impunity.
Some time ago, armed robbers took the fight to the security agencies and the citizenry, during which the robbers were carrying out their activities in broad daylight. But when the police, in collaboration with the military, took the fight to the hideouts of the criminal gangs, the robbers managed to run but they could not hide.
At present, the police have managed to reduce the incidence of armed robbery in the country. Thanks to the new strategies introduced by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Mohammed Alhassan, there is police visibility in our communities in recent times. The presence of the police has, to a large extent, deterred criminal gangs from taking the law into their own hands.
The Daily Graphic, therefore, appeals to the security agencies to step up their investigations into the circumstances that led to the murder of the Seikwahene and bring the perpetrators to book. We know the capability of the police to unravel mysteries such as the murder of the Omanhene.
While we await the action of the police into this matter, we think their inaction might have caused the disaster in Seikwa. We say this because not too long ago the Seikwahene’s vehicle was burnt but till date the perpetrators are unknown.
Text messages were also said to have been sent to him but, there again, there was no show from the police.
Next time the police must adopt measures that will enable them to be faster than the criminals to prevent such calamities.
Daily Graphic/Ghana