The Gambia Police have heightened security across the country amid a new wave of armed robberies, which has caused panic among the public.

This follows an attack on Access Bank in Brusubi on Wednesday by masked armed robbers who made away with an unspecified amount of cash. They broke into the bank during working hours using the bank’s back gate.

Multiple other robbery cases have recently been reported in other parts of the country, including last week’s armed attack on GNPC fuel station in Farafenni, resulting in a police officer being injured during shootout with the armed bandits.

In response to the rising robbery cases, The Gambia’s Inspector General of Police, Seedy Muctarr Touray, addressed the nation, vowing to bring the culprits to book.

He described the attacks as a “direct challenge to the general security governance management of this country”when “people can be brave enough to attack a bank during banking hours”.

He urged the public to continue with their normal activities, assuring them of the police’s full commitment to combating crimes and criminals enforth.

“We have already started rekindling and also reinventing the wills, reactivating our intelligent lenses. And the respond time for criminals and criminal activity within this country is within a short period of time,” he said in his televised address to the nation.

He added: “Your lives are protected by the police and patrols are ongoing. In fact, they are heightened, and we will ensure the task force conducting night patrol are increased so that perpetrators of this heinous act will be apprehended as soon as possible.”

By Adama Makasuba