The Eastern Regional Police Commander, ACP George Anko-Bil, has described as “disappointing” a number of violent armed robberies recorded in the region in recent times, noting that the sadistic nature of the events require a resolute response from society. According to him, the sexual violence pulled off by the prowling miscreants on their victims demanded a concerted response from society to address the issue, instead of leaving the fight exclusively in the hands of the police. At least three households in the New Juaben Municipality and elsewhere in the region were attacked within the past fortnight, with the bandits not only taking away huge sums of money, but in some instances raped their victims. As a result, some of the victims suffered emotional trauma, especially in the case where one of them was subjected to severe beatings for refusing to have a sexual intercourse with his daughter. Speaking to the GNA in Koforidua on Thursday, Mr Anko-Bil expressed dismay about the decline in brotherhood and neighbourliness among Ghanaians, noting that some of the cases could have been prevented had citizens in the area helped the sufferers. He expressed dismay at the sexual violence becoming part of robbery, noting that the robbers had their way because an entire neighbourhood, in some instances, failed to respond to the pleas of the victims, leaving them to their fate. ACP Anko-Bil emboldened Ghanaians not to be cowed by the robbers but to resolutely battle them such as blocking access roads when the break-ins occurred. He said although his command had apprehended more than 75 per cent of persons engaged in robberies, and also largely succeeded in preventing high-way robbers, he was nonetheless, unhappy about the recent events and was seeking additional resources to intensify town patrols. ACP Anko-Bil said the drive of his administration was to prevent the robberies and not to capture the culprits after committing the heinous offences. He said, although the police were yet to determine whether a syndicate was behind the recent events, his command was leaving nothing to chance to ensure that the perpetrators were brought to book, and elicited the support of all well-meaning citizens in that quest. Source: GNA