Bahamas police are warning citizens to stay off the streets after dark following a string of rapes and robberies that have Nassau citizens fearing for their lives.
We don’t want to cause fear in the community but if persons don’t have any useful reason to stay out after certain hours, we suggest strongly that they go home so they don’t draw attention to themselves,” Chief Supt Hulan Hanna told the Tribune newspaper yesterday.
Early yesterday morning, a group of tourists returning to Sandals on Cable Beach from a night out in Nassau were robbed as they got out of a taxi at the hotel gateway.
The incident happened about 12:30am. The visitors were held up at gunpoint and robbed of their cash and other valuables. The gunman escaped in a dark vehicle waiting nearby.
This was the third incident where tourists were robbed at gunpoint on Cable Beach in the past week. Cable Beach is the most heavily populated tourist area in Nassau and, up until recently, had been considered one of the safest areas on New Providence Island.
The Sandals incident was one of two robberies occurring in or near hotels early yesterday.
At around 1:00am, two men armed with a handgun entered the Town Hotel, downtown Nassau, and demanded money from an employee. The men reportedly escaped on foot with a small amount of cash.
Concern is growing that police are downplaying crime to protect Nassau’s tourism business. “It is part of an agenda to keep the tourists coming, but we should be concentrating on providing them with a safe environment,” a Nassau businessman told the Tribune.
