No soft-skinned vans from July 1, Bullion vans will be armored – Association of Bullion operators

The President of the Association of Bullion Operators Ghana (ABOG), Alhaji Iddi Sumaila, has mentioned that starting from July 1st all bullion vans for transporting cash will be armored.

In the wake of the increasing incidents of armed robbery attacks on bullion vans in the country, the most recent attack happened on Thursday when four unknown gang men attacked a bullion van in Ablekuma, Accra, resulting in the death of the police escort.

Speaking in an interview on Citi TV Alhaji Sumaila provided reassurance to the public that no soft-skinned vehicle will be seen by banks transporting cash, adding that the association is committed to ensuring that all banks across the country utilize the available 150 bullion vans before the specified deadline.

“From 1st July, I can assure the general public that no soft-skinned vehicles will be seen on our roads. We have been using the soft-skinned awaiting the deadline. It is a program we are looking at holistically. So no soft-skinned vehicles will be on our roads.”

“We will see banks using armored vehicles/bullion vans. However, other banks have not finalized the agreement with us. We have about 150 bullion vans in the country. Most banks have signed contracts with us to deploy to them,” he said.

He explained that this plan had been in progress before the recent incident and that significant strides had been made to ensure its implementation.

The agreement with the Bank of Ghana and other stakeholders was to transition away from soft-skinned vehicles starting in July.

“That has been the plan, it is not because of this issue. Progress has been made and that was the agreement with the Bank of Ghana and all other stakeholders that from July we will have to transition.”

Alhaji Sumaila emphasized that they are collaborating with all stakeholders to expedite the deployment of armored bullion vans to prevent the loss of lives, particularly among police escorts.

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