Residents of Walewale and its environs in the West Mamprusi municipality in the North East Region are living in constant fear following incessant armed robbery and other criminal attacks in the area.

The incidents have resulted in the loss of lives and life-threatening injuries over the past months.

The police in the area appear helpless, as they complain about the lack of the necessary logistics to deal with the menace.

Mobile money vendors, motorbike riders, commuters and market women are the biggest prey of the robbers.

Residents said the municipality had become a safe haven for the criminals, many of whom hid in uncompleted structures and bushes to track down their victims, particularly in areas such as Kukua-zugu, Wulugu and Sayoo.

Walewale, which is a major transit point with an active night life, has now been turned into a ghost town after 9 p.m. due to the now common robbery cases.

No patrol vehicles

Sources told the Daily Graphic that the local police command lacked basic logistics and personnel to fight the menace.

The command is said to have only one patrol vehicle for operational duties, with a number of its vehicles broken down for some time now.

The source said “we are just helpless; all our patrol vehicles have broken down, so we have only one vehicle, which is not enough for operations”.

Latest incidents

In the opening two weeks of the year alone, four persons have been killed in as many robbery adventures, with others injured, some seriously, in the escapades.

On January 1, 2023, two suspected armed robbers were lynched by the residents of Sayoo, a suburb of Walewale.

The two were part of a gang that opened fire on a bus, with registration number AC 393-22, which was travelling from Bawku in the Upper East Region to Accra, when the bus reached the community.

source: Graphic Online