This follows a petition presented to the IGP by the tomato importers and traders association of Ghana on the recurrent armed robbery attacks on its members.
The PRO of the Ashanti regional police command, DCOP David Agyeman Adjem, assured the association of the deployment of armed police personnel to protect its members.
DCOP Adjem said: “The IGP wants me to assure them that he’s already had some armed men deployed on the highway, and that we should also give them escorts as they go about their duties”.
“The IGP says that he’s liaising with the Military High Command to see if it is possible to have the military come with us to do the assignment.”
He further called on members of the association to find alternative ways of sending money to Burkina-Faso instead of carrying huge amounts of money on them during their travels.
“One of the things I’ll advise the traders to do is not to carry too much money on them. I think that basically, people attack them because they know they’re carrying huge sums of money.”
Despite the assurance by the IGP, the association indicated that its strike has not been called off.
Its national chairman, Mr Eric Osei Tuffour, stated that although they are excited at the measures put in place by the IGP to ensure their safety, they would have to plan with the police within three days and also inform members of the association before the strike can be called off.
The embarked on a strike from Sunday, 7 February 2021 over its grievances.
According to the group, seven of its members have been robbed and shot in less than three weeks while returning from their business trips.