Peter Toobu, a retired Executive Secretary to an ex-Inspector General of Police (IGP), has lashed out at the service over its modus operandi in their quest to arrest suspects allegedly involved in bullion van robberies.
Mr Toobu, who is now the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wa West constituency, says he cannot fathom why the police will decide to take suspects on an operation.
“I don’t know how it comes that suspects will be taken on an operation probably to get more information and they were finally shot dead because these are also trained officers and they could misbehave in a way.
“But there are rules and regulations governing when a police officer can press the trigger. They don’t shoot by heart,” he said in an interview on Accra-based 3FM.
He added: “Criminals are not to be killed; they are to be arrested and prosecuted. The police do not have the right to punish, they only use the gun when necessary in conditions specified under service number 97.”
The comments of the MP who also serves on Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee come after six policemen and a civilian were arrested for their involvement in bullion van robberies that rocked Ghana last year.
They were picked up at their hideout after a police intelligence-led raid at Borteyman on Tuesday which led to the death of two suspects who were police personnel during an exchange of gunshots.
The deceased, identified as Constable Randolph Ansah and Lance Corporal Stephen Kwaku Nyame, were pronounced dead on arrival at the Police Hospital where they were rushed for treatment.
But asked if the death of the two police suspects is a cover-up to kill the case, Mr Toobu was convinced that cannot happen since the IGP has taken it upon himself to delve into the issue.
“We are talking about an IGP with some level of moral character; a standard we are all proud of. So if some people think we are killing these two people so the case will die, we have more petrol on the fire and with time, investigations will step up and as we thresh the link as to why these people were killed, it may become a bigger case,” he cautioned.
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