Bullion van, passengers survive attack

The police in the Central Region are on the heels of armed robbers who attacked another improvised bullion van on the Accra-Winneba highway.

The van had reached the stretch between the Okyereko and Dominase section of the road when the robbery attempt happened at about 6 p.m. last Thursday.

The Central Regional Police Public Relations Officer Deputy Superintendent of Police Irene Oppong, said the assailants shot into the van — with registration number GN 6956-17 — from the passenger side, smashing the window in the process.

Occupants of the van, including the driver, Alfred Aidoo, however, escaped unhurt, while the van escaped to safety with the cash.

Others aboard the van were police officer Sergeant Frank Agyemang, and a bank employee, Mr Martinson Odei Gyebi.

The team was on duty from the Odorkor branch of Zenith Bank, transporting cash to another branch in Winneba.

The incident was reported to the Winneba Divisional Police at about 7 p.m., and the police provided an escort team for the bullion van to Accra.

Jamestown incident

The incident comes in the wake of the brutal shooting of a policeman at Jamestown in Accra this week, raising concerns about the security of bullion van services in the country.

Constable Emmanuel Osei, a police officer with the National SWAT Headquarters, was shot and killed by the suspected armed robbers at Adedenkpo, near Jamestown, last Monday afternoon while on escort duty.

IGP reacts

The Inspector General of Police, Mr James Oppong-Boanuh, has himself expressed worry over last Monday's incident, calling on financial institutions to provide safer and more secure bullion vans, or have police escorts withdrawn.

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