By Alpha Abu
A spate of night armed robberies in the city of Port Loko has unnerved residents in that part of the country, with security officials appearing to be heavily challenged by the situation.
The month of September alone saw some of the most audacious and violent burglaries that residents have ever experienced. The robbers have reportedly taken advantage of the Covid -19 night curfew to prowl and rob people as they sleep. Businesses have not been spared either, with two high profile raids on a popular shop called Potash and the Micro-finance establishment ASA.
Potash shop, which is in the central part of Port Loko City, was stormed by thieves who took away Le60 million in cash and smart phones. ASA Micro-finance also lost an unknown amount of money to the robbers.
The most recent incident in the city happened late last week at Foulah Town in the Kamaranka Section of the city; Ramatulai, a petty trader who was planning a business trip to Guinea, lost over Le12 million to men wielding machetes and other projectiles, who broke into her home.
Another trader, Yayah Kanu, was on the 23rd September attacked in his kiosk, along Kambia Road, in the Sendugu community, also in Port Loko. Kanu was slashed with machetes and left for dead after he had been robbed. He somehow survived the attack and has been responding to treatment, contrary to earlier reports that he had died from his wounds.
Chiefdom Speaker, Marlapy Tarawally, told Politico that people have been deeply troubled by events of late, and spoke about the high level meetings that have taken place involving the Mayor, the regional Police Chief and local leaders in a bid to put a halt to the rampant attacks on peaceful citizens. He said they would be having a meeting with the Resident Minister North West, being the political head in that part of the country, so that they could all effectively address the robberies occurring in the city.
Tarrawally highlighted a number of challenges that continue to impede attempts at tackling crime in Port Loko such as lack of Police patrol vehicles, limited number of police personnel and the curfew.
The chiefdom speaker said he was shocked to see the Police pushing their only vehicle that had broken down one evening, and viewed the curfew also as a leeway for criminals to move around with ease.
He spoke about ongoing plans to reintroduce Neighbourhood Watch in the various settlements across the city, though he recognized limitations they might face in attempting to do so, because of the curfew.
The Regional Security Coordinator North West, in the Office of National Security (ONS), Lemini Marah, reacting to enquiries from Politico on the apparent elusiveness of the robbers, pointed out that Port Loko city has expanded exponentially over the years, and the under strength of the Police and their lack of effective patrol vehicle, have all hampered efforts to effectively combat night crime.
He said because many Police officers have been drafted into the COVID-19 fight, a detachment of military personnel from Lungi had to be brought in, to give auxiliary support to the Port Loko Police and could be seen patrolling the city day and night.. Marah explained that the pitched darkness of the streets at night due to the stealing of all the Solar Light panels and batteries have given cover to the thieves to move around. To counter their movements, he said, checkpoints have now been placed along key routes and he described the Military/Police collaboration as dynamic.
On the Neighbourhood Watch initiative, Marah disclosed that the process was first infiltrated by hardcore criminals believed to have come from Freetown, but he noted that they have been weeded out, and the whole exercise being further reviewed.
The Regional Media Officer for the Police in Port Loko, Sergeant Paul Hassan Turay, admitted to this medium that they are yet to arrest anyone connected to the night robberies over the past month and spoke about ongoing Police raids across the city on criminal hideouts.
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