Security Analyst, Adib Saani says the recent clash between youth gangs from Nima and Maamobi poses a unique opportunity for the issue of gangsterism within the Zongos to be critically looked at and dealt with.

According to him, had more attention been attached to the rise of gangs in the Zongo communities, yesterday’s clash would not have occurred.

“This issue, also based on my findings on the grounds today, points to the fact that it’s been simmering for some time now. There have been efforts to mend the tie between these two groups unfortunately not much was done about it and it kept simmering under the radar and nobody was able to pay attention to it until it blew up in our face.

“So I think that if we had accorded the issue with the seriousness it deserves we would have perhaps had enhanced intelligence on the ground and that could have helped us prevent it in the first place,” he said on JoyNews’ PM Express, Wednesday.

According to the Security Analyst after some personal investigation into the matter following the clash, he has been able to identify about 9 gangs operating in the Nima-Maamobi area.

“Kumordzi group is very well known and according to the police is led by one Ibrahim Osei, then we have the Bombo led by one Ali Awudu. There are other groups including Mataata, Flash point areas, and then we have Down site, then World Bank on Kanda Highway.

“Another group is called Abenase; another group is called Gyatah; then we have the Monga who are from Maamobi. And these groups have been in existence for some time now,” he said.

Adib Saani noted that these gangs are often sought after from outside the Zongos where they are tasked to perform various nefarious activities including engaging in political vigilantism, armed robberies, extortions, debt collecting among many others.

He said, “They’re a nursery for political vigilantism. So when politicians need to go the bugabuga way, the most convenient place to go is the Zongos and there are boys who are ready to die for 20 cedis.  

“Some are used for land disputes. If you have a dispute over a land, instead of going through the process which will be in court for years on end they come to seek the services of these guys.

“And of course some also sell drugs, from the information I’ve gathered on the ground. And finally some are recruited to take part in robbery activities, extortion, they’re also debt collectors.

“If you have your money with someone who is proving very difficult, you come they’ll provide you that service; and other crimes they’re engaged in.”

He said with a renewed focus on the phenomenon of Zongo gangsterism following the Nima-Maamobi gang clash, it was critical that law enforcement agencies seek to “understand the psychology of gangsterism in the Zongos and put in place mechanisms to deal with it.”