Two personnel of the Ghana Prisons Service are standing trial for allegedly facilitating the escape of Wang Xiao, a Chinese convict at the Nsawam Medium Prison.
The accused officers, Joseph Oteng and Sargeant Isaac Boateng Bonsu have been formally charged with conspiracy and aiding escape.
They were arraigned before an Accra Circuit Court after CCTV footage gave them out, contradicting their initial account of how the escapee managed to abscond.
In the said footage, the accused persons were seen escorting the convict to a hotel room to meet his wife, from where the couple reportedly escaped, while the officers remained in the reception area.
Giving the account of the footage to the court, Police leading prosecutor, Chief Inspector Wisdom Alorwu indicated that the two officers purportedly agreed to accompany Xiao to the Oceans Hotel at Korle Gonno, under the pretense of meeting his wife for a reward of Ghc 1,000.
The prosecution said that, upon discovering Xiao’s escape, the accused officers attempted to conceal evidence by hiding the handcuffs at the Tema Station Hockey Stadium.
The officers then allegedly misled their superiors at the prison, claiming that Xiao had escaped after being approached by an unregistered Toyota Vitz taxi.
However, during investigations, the accused led police to the hotel and a review of CCTV footage revealed that the convict and his wife jumped from the balcony of the first floor while the accused were relaxing in the reception area after receiving meals from the convict’s alleged wife.
The presiding judge, Mrs. Afia Owusua Appiah granted them bail after they pleaded not guilty.
Bail was set at GH¢100,000 each, with two sureties to be justified. The case is scheduled to resume on April 9, 2024.
Chief Inspector Wisdom Alorwu, leading the prosecution, said the complainant held a significant position at Nsawam Medium Security Prisons, under which the accused officers served.
The Ghana Prisons Service has expressed concern over the actions of two of its officers.
In a statement, the Service reiterated its commitment to upholding high standards and maintaining a professional code of conduct among its personnel.
In an interview on Citi FM, Superintendent Abdul Latif Adamu, the Chief Public Relations Officer of the Prisons Service, expressed dismay over the incident, labeling it as regrettable.
He reiterated the Service’s stance against such misconduct, stressing the importance of professionalism and adherence to the code of conduct.
“Our organization, as I mentioned, has standards. We have our training protocols and our behavioural codes. It is rather unfortunate that this happened, and I can assure you that it is because of issues like this that we have sanctions for workers who may act contrary to the codes of conduct of any organization. So for now, I wouldn’t want to comment on that because the case is still in court, and we want to see what the outcome of the case will be before we can comment on it” he said.
Superintendent Adamu assured that efforts to educate and sensitize officers on the significance of professionalism would continue unabated.
“Like the military will always tell you, in any given situation, there are some levels of casualties allowed. So I don’t think the behaviour exhibited by these two officers is a true representation of the behaviours of prison officers in general because these are only two out of thousands of prison officers who are behaving and going about their daily duties professionally. So yes, we don’t condone that. We frown on that. But we can assure you that our officers are professional, and we will also continue to educate them so they can be more professional in their line of duty,” he added.
Xiao was serving a one-year jail term at the Nsawam Prison for stealing.
According to initial reports, he was said to have reported sick and needed dental care outside the prison walls.
In the escort of two prison officers, the 38-year-old inmate visited the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra on February 7, 2024.
But after receiving medical care, he reportedly escaped while being escorted by the two officers who had accompanied him to the hospital. The Ghana Prisons Service confirmed the incident and indicated that it has issued a wanted person notice for public assistance to re-arrest the inmate.
