�Look For Illegal Arms�

Security personnel on duty at the country�s checkpoints have been asked to be on the lookout for guns concealed in bags of maize and baskets containing smoked fish. The Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police ((DCOP) Rose Bio Atinga, said the move had become imperative following confessions by some captured illegal gun manufacturers that they had been hiding the weapons in bags of dry maize and smoked fish baskets to outwit the police in order to sell them to armed robbers in Accra. DCOP Atinga was speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra last Friday after the arrest of six people in two separate operations at Hohoe in the Volta Region and Accra who were in possession of five eight-round sophisticated pistols. Those arrested at Hohoe were Andrews Kakraba, Seth Akpah and Isaac Ayitey, who had three pistols in their possession, while Kwasi Akese, Daniel Osei and Kwadwo Asson who had two pistols with them were captured in Accra. She said the suspects would be dealt with according to the laws of the land and appealed to judges and state attorneys to assist in that direction. DCOP Atinga also implored the general public to continue to assist in nipping the activities of illegal weapon manufacturers in the bud by providing vital information which would lead to their arrest and prosecution, stressing that the identities of informants would be kept secret. Throwing more light on the issue, the Deputy Accra Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Christian Tetteh Yohuno, said around 3.30p.m. on October 9, this year, his outfit had a hint that some people who were selling locally manufactured pistols at Hohoe. He said based on the information, plain-clothes policemen were sent to purchase some of the guns. ACP Yohuno said after buying three of the pistols from Kakraba, Akpah and Ayitey at a spot, the police arrested them and brought them to Accra. He said during interrogation, the three suspects said they had been purchasing the weapons from blacksmiths at Alavanyo and selling them to armed robbers in Accra. The Deputy Regional Commander said in the afternoon of October 8, this year, the police had a tip-off that some men were illegally dealing in weapons at the UTC area in Accra so some personnel were dispatched to the place. They managed to arrest Akese and Osei, who had two locally manufactured pistols and two cartridges in their possession. He said during interrogation, they mentioned Asson as the one who gave them the weapons to sell for him and they led the police to arrest him at Abossey Okai, but he denied their claim. ACP Yohuno said the six suspects would be prosecuted as soon as the police completed their investigations.