In Togo, any person, business people especially, who wants to withdraw an important sum of money at the bank or similar financial institution can request a police escort, free of charge.
Yark Damehane, minister for security and civil protection, said this on the TVT, a public TV station, last Wednesday a day after a new heist had occurred in Lomé.
Requesting a police escort had always been possible but only a few citizens and economic operators did so. “It is inconceivable that an economic operator who is going to withdraw large sums of money cannot ask the police, the brigade, or the local gendarmerie to assist him,” Damehane said while deploring the increase in the number of robberies in the country, and the capital Lomé especially.
The minister of security stressed that police assistance is the best protection against robbers who target people after they have withdrawn their cash from the bank. “Day and night, ask for the support of the regalian forces,” he insisted, adding that “a new robbery is one too many.”
Throughout the second half of 2021, more than CFA108 million were stolen in 24 bank robberies.
