ACCRA, January 24 --- Filling station managers in the Accra metropolis have agreed to close their stations at 2000 hours following the recent spate of armed attacks that have led to deaths of pump attendants.

The police, on their part, say they have increased their patrols in the city to curb the rising crime wave, Mr Sylvester Apedoe, president of the Petroleum Retailers Association (PRA), told the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday.

Members have agreed that stations at remote locations should close earlier. This is to reduce the risk of facing armed robbers who do not only take away money but are also killing pump attendants.

In less than a week, two stations in the Accra metropolis have witnessed such attacks during which two attendants were shot dead. Another station was robbed of 50 million cedis in the same week.

Mr Apedoe said the association would be meeting on Wednesday to review the situation with the view to coming out with a definite position for the authorities to consider.

In the interim, dealers are advised to be security conscious, he said. "We told them not to be counting money openly," Mr Apedoe said. "They are also encouraged to send (money) to the bank at shorter intervals than they are doing."

Mr Apedoe said dealers do not have many options available to them. "Our hands are tied," he said, and explained that preliminary findings indicate that the modus operandi of the robbers is sophisticated. "They come with sophisticated weapons and in numbers that cannot be easily overcome," Mr Apedoe said.

Pump attendants, victims in most attacks, are paid between 50,000 cedis and 150,000 cedis a month because what accrues to the station as profit from the oil companies is inadequate.

Mr Apedoe said: "I can assure you that we pay them within the national minimum wage." He added that they are also insured. Some petroleum dealers the GNA interviewed said the spate of armed robberies at filling stations is the reflection of a breakdown of national security.

"The situation calls for a holistic approach to addressing the issue as well as the needs of security agencies and related bodies in order to cut down on the crime wave," Mr Commodore Mensah, Manager at Airport Shell station, said.

He said the loose immigration rules are to blame since it has led to the influx of a large number of foreigners whose social and moral background cannot be verified. "The immigration authorities need to sit up and ensure that not everyone is allowed into the country," Mr Mensah said.

"Besides those who are permitted into the country must be made to leave by the specified period indicated." Mr Divine Torkonoo, Manager at Legon Total, said he was sad at the attacks and murders and urged government to act quickly to halt them.

At the Unipetrol station on the Legon-Madina road, where armed robbers killed a lady pump attendant, the manager, Mr Emmanuel Sowah, looking sombre, said he was yet to get over the ordeal.

He said the station, which now has police protection, is operating normally, but added: "my staff is scared because they do not know what might happen next. This is the second time we have been attacked."

The supermarket, where the lady was shot, was opened but was empty since, according to Mr Sowah, "the boys say they just cannot stand the pain and grief they experience when they are inside."

The attendants sit outside and enter the shop only when a customer arrives. The lady is yet to be buried. Mr Sowah said they now close at 2000 hours to avoid any such incident. ASP Richard Baduweh, Police Public Relations Officer, said they had increased patrol in the city and hopes to come up with something soon.

He said the total strength of 14,000 policemen cannot do all there is concerning crime. "All we can do now is to increase patrols and place men at certain strategic points in town as a rapid response unit," ASP Baduweh said. "We also have just taken delivery of a 15 new pick-ups and this will enhance our operations significantly," he added.