The Avenor Traditional Council in the Akatsi South Municipality of the Volta Region has bemoaned the increasing number of crimes and murder in the enclave. 

The Council, has therefore, appealed to the government to intensify security in the area to curb crime by increasing the number of Police officers and logistics to root out criminals in the municipality.

This follows the death of a popular commercial motorbike operator and mobile money vendor.

The victim, Nelson Mandela Zanu, was murdered in a robbery incident in the evening of Tuesday, 20th June, 2023, while heading home after the day's work.

The unidentified assailant(s) ambushed Mandela about 60 meters away from his home in the suburb of  Dagblakofe, shot him dead and bolted with his motorbike, mobile money transaction phones, SIM cards, and GH₵18,000. 

The deceased left behind 2 children and a wife, Georgina Adifu. The widow explained that she became worried when she heard a gunshot in the area and couldn’t reach her husband through the phone. 

She said she asked about four people to call the deceased's phone, “but there was no answer, so I asked his friend to come over and help me look for him". 

She further stated that “I found his lifeless body around the church during the search with a torchlight, I shouted and called out for his friend and told him my husband was lying on the ground, he was shot dead." 

The father of the deceased, Stephen Senugbe, described the death of Nelson as a great loss to both the nuclear and extended families.  

He entreated the authorities to heighten security by deploying the military, since the Municipality is gradually becoming a den for criminals and drug addicts, who take delight in perpetuating crimes. 

The murder of Nelson brings to two, the number of commercial motorcycle operators killed in the Akatsi South Municipality in the last 2 months, alongside other petty crimes. 

The incident has caused rising tension among residents, especially commercial motorcycle operators who believe they are the target of these miscreants. 

The residents led by the Akatsi Youth Parliament threatened to embark on a demonstration to register their displeasure with happenings in the municipality and to call government’s attention to the situation. 

Meanwhile, the Avenor Traditional Council has appealed for calm and instructed the youth to indefinitely suspend the planned demonstration, as its fallout may have the tendecy of diverting attention from the ongoing investigations into the murder of Nelson.

Addressing the press, the Paramount Chief of Avenor, Torgbe Dorgle Anumah VI, entreated the residents to give out information to help the police apprehend the assailants and other criminals in the municipality.

He urged the government through the Interior Ministry to increase the number of Police officers and logistics to enhance policing in the jurisdiction of the Akatsi South Police Command.

“We have identified that the Akatsi South Police Command is understaffed and does not have a means of transport. We are therefore calling on the government to as a matter of urgency, post more personnel to the command and to provide them with a means of transport to facilitate their work. In this context, those of us who have strangers in our houses should endeavor to be the ears and eyes of safety and security. 

"We also want to assure the Police that the Avenor Traditional Council is solidly behind them, so they should endeavor to go to all the drug dens and root out all criminals”, he added. 

The leadership of the Akatsi South Youth Parliament agreed to call off the demonstration but gave a two-week ultimatum to the police to apprehend the assailants or face their wrath.