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Armed robbers harass Koforidua doctors

Fear and panic have gripped medical doctors of the Eastern Regional hospital, Koforidua due to numerous armed robberies at the Medical Village, about two kilometres from the hospital.

The robberies, which were intense last year with not less than three occurrences each week, led to one doctor being brutalised by the robbers who took away items such as laptops, flat screen television sets and iPads.

There was a case of a female doctor who during one of the robberies was “manhandled” at an apartment she shared with three other doctors outside the medical village.

Doctors leaving

One of the doctors had already left and some of them are contemplating saying goodbye to the hospital if adequate measures are not instituted for their security.

Although the police acted promptly in December, by erecting a tent at the Medical Village with patrols within the premises, most of the doctors are still scared of the robbers and have not been responding to night calls for emergency cases at the hospital.

50 Doctors

In all, there are 50 resident doctors attached to the hospital out of which 20 are housed at the Medical Village with the rest staying in hired buildings.

The hospital, which is the biggest health facility in the region with specialists, serves as a referral point for the numerous state-owned district hospitals, as well as the private hospitals and clinics in the region and some parts of the Volta Region.

Trauma

Commenting on the situation, the Hospital Administrator, Mr Peter Boateng, said although the police had erected a tent at the Medical Village, the doctors were still traumatised and not responding to night calls for emergency cases.

Dilating further on the issue, he said the armed robberies started in 2012 and that although the hospital complained about it no action was taken.

Mr Boateng said the situation worsened in 2013, which witnessed armed robbery attacks of not less than three within a fortnight at certain periods of that year.

Police response

Such a situation compelled the hospital administration to write to the regional minister with copies of the letter to the Regional Police Commander after which policemen from the New Juaben Municipal Police Command erected a tent at the Medical Village where day and night patrols were also conducted.

Mr Boateng said no armed robbery had occurred since the police made their presence felt at the place in December last year.

“The police are there but cannot be near most of the doctors’ houses throughout the night so they are scared to come out for emergency cases in the night because they do not know who they will meet when they come out of their residences,” Mr Boateng stated.

The persistent armed robbery attacks on the doctors and their unwillingness to respond to night calls for emergency cases has led to the chiefs and opinion leaders within the New Juaben Municipality appealing to the Regional Police Command to pay attention to the issue.

Chief Abu Adams expresses concern

One of such traditional rulers, Chief Abu Adams, head of the Dagomba Community in the region, who was rushed to the regional hospital in the night at the weekend and was lucky to have a stand-by doctor to attend to him, was of the view that special security arrangements should be put in place at the Medical Village to protect the doctors.

ACP Abass Abaa

However, the Deputy Eastern Regional Police Commander, ACP James Abass Abaa, said the police had done the best to protect the doctors and that going the extra mile in that respect was not possible due to lack of personnel and equipment, especially vehicles.

CCT option

He, therefore, suggested to the doctors to subscribe to the installation of close circuit television (CCT) system that would be linked to police operations as the only way to guarantee 100 per cent safety.

That was after ACP Abass Abaa had met the doctors with the information that he had personally arranged for the installation of CCT at their residences which they were to pay for the cost of installation to which the doctors had not yet responded.

Hear him: “There are 210 crime-prone spots in the New Juaben municipality out of which tents have been erected at 10 of such places each with six policemen for day and night duties, making the number 60.

2,700 Policemen

“There are 2,700 policemen in the region and if we are to erect tents in all the 210 crime-prone areas, where do we get the men and operational vehicles and this is why I have suggested to them the installation of the CCT at a minimal cost which they are yet to do,” ACP Abass Abaa stated.

The Deputy Regional Police Commander, therefore, repeated his call to the doctors to go in for the CCT for their own protection, adding that the police had done their best in that respect.

 

 

 

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