Police identifies 5000 flashpoints

Magdalene Teiko Larnyoh 12:44 - 08 September 2016

___5470232___https:______static.pulse.com.gh___webservice___escenic___binary___5470232___2016___9___8___14___John-Kudalor

The number of flashpoints has increased from 3,574 in 2012 to over 5000 in 2016, a trend the Police sees to be worrying.

Ahead of the 2016 election, the Ghana Police Service has said that it has identified over 5000 hot spots where violence could erupt during the elections.

This was revealed by the Director-General of the Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Prosper Kwami Agblorh at a forum on peaceful election organised by the Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Training Center.

The number of flashpoints has increased from 3,574 in 2012 to over 5000 in 2016. Agblorh attributed the increase to the illegal possession of arms, chieftaincy disputes among others.

He said this is the main reason why they have activated the National Election Security architecture. Their role he explained is to plan for the security section of election 2016.

“The overall objective of the task force is to provide a forum for security agencies to impartially deal with election security related issues in a coordinated manner.”

Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) Charlotte Osei has cautioned political parties and the general public against the use of intemperate language ahead of the December polls.

According to her, the political environment currently appears tensed and might degenerate into violence if the situation is not checked.

She said the commission has identified some 81 flashpoints in the country ahead of the elections.