Two Ghanaian prison officers appeared in an Accra Circuit Court on indictments of helping Wang Xiao, a Chinese prisoner at Nsawam Medium Prison, in fleeing after being lured with KFC rice, pieces of chicken, and soft drinks in addition to getting Gh¢100,000 each.
Joseph Oteng and Sergeant Isaac Boateng Bonsu have been charged with collaboration and assisting in the escape of a Chinese prisoner with his wife after giving police 'accomplices' KFC rice drink for alone time – the Court told.
Our officers are professionals; the Chinese jailbird case was an isolated incident – the prison service.
However, the issue appears more significant and goes beyond the two low-ranked officers to their directors. Communication gadgets are employed inside Ghana's prisons to plan and execute such escapes.
The accused punishing officers allegedly told their supervisors that after visiting the hospital, a Toyota Vitz car approached them and drove the convict away.
Meanwhile, their earlier claim was that the Chinese escaped from the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, where he was receiving treatment.
However, CCTV footage from the hotel has exposed them. The CCTV footage showed that the Prison Officers escorted the Chinese Convict to a Hotel to meet his wife in a room. The detainee and his wife escaped over the room's patio while the two officers remained in the hotel reception area.
They have pled not guilty, and the Court presided over by Afia Owusua Appiah, has granted them bail of GhC100,000 apiece, with two sureties to be justified. They will reappear on April 9, 2024.
The prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Wisdom Alorwu, stated that the plaintiff was third-in-command at the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons and that the accused operated under his leadership.
According to the prosecution, on February 7, 2024, the two officers carefully took Wang Xiao, a Chinese national serving a one-year sentence at Nsawam Medium Security Prisons, to Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for treatment.
After a medical officer treated the inmate at the hospital's Dental Department, the two accused agreed to escort him to the Oceans Hotel in Korle Gonno to meet his wife for a talk in exchange for a reward of GHC1,000, which they agreed to split, the prosecution added.
Chief Inspector Alorwu, the accused, removed the prisoner's handcuffs and took him to the hotel reception. Bonsu, the second charged person, told the receptionist they had come to visit someone in one of the rooms.
The prosecution added that the two accused directed the convict to the room, where they met his putative wife, who provided them with KFC rice and drink so that she "could spend some time with the husband independently."
Upon returning to the hotel room to contact the convict, the accused found that the convict and his alleged wife had fled via the balcony.
After the detainee fled, the prosecutor stated that the accused proceeded to Tema Station Hockey with a witness to hide the handcuffs. They immediately called their superiors in Nsawam and informed them that when escorting the prisoner from the hospital, a yellow and black unregistered Toyota Vitz taxi and the convict leaped into the cab and fled with them.
The accused were put on trial by their superiors at the Prisons National headquarters, who then submitted an objection to the Police on February 13, 2024. During examinations, the two Prison Officers led police to the hotel.
An examination of CCTV footage showed that the prisoner and his wife jumped from the balcony of the first-floor building and fled while the accused were relaxing in the reception area after accepting meals from the convict's wife.
The prosecutor stated that they were unaware of the prisoner's escape until the hotel staff called to inquire about him.