PICKPOCKETS FLOOD ACCRA

As Christmas draws nearer…
*Amid low security
STORY: TODAY REPORTERS
Today news hounding has revealed that a large number of pickpockets have thronged the capital cities of the country, robbing unsuspecting shoppers and commuters of their monies and personal belongings, in the wake of the Christmas holidays. Aiming at making it big during the Christmas festivities, our checks in the various capital cities particularly Accra and Kumasi, indicate that these pickpockets have improved upon their mode of operation and have introduced what victims have described ‘technological-stealing’ as part of their schemes.
The pickpockets, whose presence are heavily felt in Accra and Kumasi, operate largely in congested areas of the cities and subject unsuspecting citizens to heavy abuses before finally robbing them of their belongings.
In Accra, where they are in the majority compared to Kumasi and other cities of the country, they are largely found at Circle, Rawlings Park, Makola, Tudu, Madina, Kaneshie, Agbogbloshie to mention but a few.
Our news team further gathered that what has increased the presence of the pickpockets especially on the streets and market areas of Accra is the small number of police presence.
The development saw many of the people who spoke to Today calling on the Ghana Police Service to beef up security in the capital. Indeed our team observed that the presence of the police and other security agencies in Accra in particular was minimal and the few who were found on the streets were seen directing traffic.
Ironically, in the Central Business District of the capital, such pickpockets operate mostly in and around the Accra District office of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) and the Motor Traffic and Transport Union (MTTU) office of the Police Service, where they subject their victims to several abuses.
Several people who spoke to our reporters narrated how they suffered one abuse or the other at these locations where they expected the security officers to protect them against these miscreants.
According to a victim, who claimed to have been robbed of her money and mobile phones at Tudu, she was openly attacked by five heavily-built gentlemen who approached and asked for direction to a popular location in the city of Accra.
“When I turned round to direct them, one other man approached me and asked me for my phone and money. Though I tried to resist, they told me to shut up since all the people around me were part of their gang, so I shut up and gave them everything,” she sadly recounted.
And when she made the attempt to lodge a complaint to the police; she was discouraged by other pedestrians who urged her to rather thank God she was not beating or maimed like robbers in Circle do.
Around Vodafone head office at Kwame Nkrumah Circle, the pickpockets behaving as ‘book-men’ or traffic control officers and directing vehicles which load from the bus stop, quickly dash into the pockets and bags of passengers for their valuables and leave the scene right after the act.
One of our reporters was an eyewitness to a scenario when one of the thugs abused a driver’s ‘mate’ for alerting a nursing mother to take good care of her bag which, according to the mate, was a target of a young man loading the vehicle.
“The mate received a heavy slap from the thug for alerting the innocent nursing mother to take care of her belongings,” he reported.
In Kumasi, areas around Kejetia, such as Fante New Town, Race Course, Adum, Amakom are reported to be areas where pickpockets operate the most.
Much sophisticated than their counterparts in the south, they quickly jump to the needy passengers and pretend to be good Samaritans which enables the passenger or commuter to entrust with a belonging or ask for direction
The good Samaritans then turn to be bad ones when they direct their victims to their hideouts only to be robbed under the pretence of leading them to a safe location.

Commuters and shoppers who spoke to this paper therefore called on the security agencies in the country to beef up security and also make their presence felt within the cities.