[ 2021-02-14 ]

DCOP Mr Afful Boakye Yiadom

Police advise stricter security at fuel stations
The Accra Regional Police Command has advised
operators of filling stations to tighten security
around their stations following a rise in robbery
attacks on such operations.
The recommendation of the police include the
installation of undercover close circuit
television (CCTV) cameras on their premises,
well-lit environments, installation of quality
security doors, burglar proofs and alarms and
undertaking security and background checks of the
people they employ.



Some of the measures could be executed with the
assistance of the Criminal Investigation
Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.

Context

There has been a number of robbery attacks on
filling stations in some parts of the Greater
Accra Region in recent times.

The latest attack was on the Ashongman GOIL
Filling Station, which led to the killing of a
security man while two attendants were locked up.
The robbers made away with GH¢2,006.



Before then, there was another attack on a filling
station at Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region in
which the robbers made away with some cash.

To curb the development, the Accra Regional Police
Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr
Afful Boakye Yiadom, instructed all divisional
police commanders to meet filling station
operators in their jurisdictions to discuss the
trend and the way forward.

The meetings, consequently started last Thursday,
with two district police commands, namely Korle Bu
and Abokobi/Ayi Mensah, meeting the operators in
their areas.

Energy Quest Show
Objective

Speaking to the Daily Graphic after the two
meetings, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of
the Accra Regional Police Command, Deputy
Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mrs Effia Tenge,
said the objective was to sensitise them to the
current security developments and ensure the
safety of their workers, proceeds and other
assets.



She said about 20 managers and supervisors of
various filling stations, including GOIL, Shell,
Allied Oil, and TOTAL attended the two meetings
held separately.

Measures

During the meetings, DSP Mrs Tenge said the police
urged the filling station operators to ensure that
their daily sales were deposited at the bank and
different routes should be used to avoid being
monitored by criminals.

They were also encouraged to install CCTV cameras
at vantage points on their premises which should
not be visible to the public, while their
environments should be well lighted.

Additionally, they were asked to fix quality
security doors and burglar proof doors to prevent
easy access to their offices and shops by
criminals.

The police commanders also urged the operators to
install alarms and conduct security and background
checks of the people they employed.

For such background checks, the CID Headquarters
must be contacted to take employees through
employment documentation.

Suspicious characters

The management of filling stations, Mrs Tenge
said, were also asked to make efforts to know the
residence of their employees and also demand
guarantors of them.

They should also introduce occurrence books for
their private security personnel which would be
used to record events while they were on duty.

They were also advised to report suspicious
characters to the police, but must establish good
relationships with members of communities in which
they operated.

Furthermore, the downstream petroleum station
operators were advised to close their business
activities on time and consider not operating at
odd hours so that they do not give criminals the
opportunity to target them, DSP Mrs Tenge said.

While the police assured them of patrols, the
station operators were also encouraged to have the
contact numbers of the patrol teams for prompt and
effective communication.

Regular sessions

The managers and supervisors in turn commended the
police for the interaction and suggested that they
organise similar meetings for attendants and other
employees of the filling stations.

They expressed appreciation to the police and
promised to abide by the security tips they had
provided.

Source - Graphic Online

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