Accra Regional Police Commander, DCOP George Mensah has revealed more details surrounding the Sunday dawn attack on officers at the Kwabenya Atomic Hills Police Station.
DCOP Mensah, disclosed in an interview on Adom FM’s Morning Show, “Dwaso Nsem†that there were six officers on duty when the attack happened.
His comments run contrary to earlier reports that suggested there was only one Counter NCO at the charge office when the attack happened.
The commander said the officers were taken unawares, adding that “even though they were armed, they were not ready to engage in a battle†explaining why the officers could not combat the gunmen.
Narrating the circumstances under which Inspector Emmanuel Ashilevi was shot, he said the officer was observing from outside the charge office and only moved in when he heard noise in the charge office; unknown to him, however, that the attackers had stationed men outside to ward off any intruder that may interfere with their operation and it was on entering that one of those men gunned him down.
He described the situation as something that happened “in a flashâ€, saying there was no way the men could have engaged the attackers.
On assertions that the criminals shouldn’t have been kept in the same cells considering the nature of their crimes, DCOP George Mensah said those making the arguments do not understand the full scale of the number of robbers occupying cells in Accra.
“In the first place, they are not members of the same gang; more so, for every police station you visit in Accra, you are likely to find an armed robber there, so there was no error with what happenedâ€, he added.
The Commander also hinted of the IGP's intention to modernize the police service by fixing CCTV cameras at all police stations as part of the package.He further appealed to the public to help with funds since the project is capital intensive.