Two prison officers found themselves in the dock at the Accra Circuit Court, facing charges of facilitating the escape of Wang Xiao, a Chinese prisoner held at Nsawam Medium Prison.
Joseph Oteng and Sergeant Isaac Boateng Bonsu stand accused of conspiracy and aiding in the escape.
Initially, the accused correctional officers claimed that upon returning from a hospital visit, they were intercepted by a Toyota Vitz car, which then whisked away the convict.
However, their version of events was contradicted by CCTV footage obtained from a nearby hotel. The footage revealed that Oteng and Bonsu escorted Wang Xiao to a hotel, where he met with his wife in a private room.
The convict and his wife allegedly escaped over the room’s balcony while the officers waited in the hotel reception area.
They have pleaded not guilty, and the court presided over by Mrs Afia Owusua Appiah has granted them bail in the sum of GhC100,000 each, with two sureties to be justified.
They are to reappear on April 9, 2024. The prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Wisdom Alorwu, stated that the complainant was the third in command at the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons, and the accused were serving under his supervision.
The prosecution outlined that on February 7, 2024, around 0700 hours, the two officers were assigned to escort Wang Xiao, a Chinese national serving a one-year term at Nsawam Medium Security Prison, to Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for medical treatment.
Following the convict’s treatment by a medical officer at the hospital’s Dental Department, the prosecution alleged that the two accused officers agreed to accompany Wang Xiao to Oceans Hotel in Korle Gonno, where he intended to meet his wife for a discussion. This arrangement was purportedly made in exchange for a reward of GHC1,000, to be split between them.
Chief Inspector Alorwu detailed that the accused officers removed Wang Xiao’s handcuffs and escorted him to the hotel reception. Bonsu, the second accused, then informed the receptionist that they were present to meet someone in one of the hotel’s rooms.
According to the prosecution, the two accused officers escorted the convict to the hotel room, where they met with his purported wife. Allegedly, she offered them KFC rice and drinks while requesting some private time alone with her husband.
Upon returning to the hotel room to check on the convict, the accused officers discovered that both the convict and his supposed wife had absconded through the balcony.
The prosecutor further claimed that following the convict’s escape, the accused officers went to Tema Station Hockey to conceal the handcuffs with the help of a witness involved in the case.
Subsequently, they informed their superiors at Nsawam about the incident, stating that during their escort from the hospital, they were unexpectedly intercepted by a yellow and black unregistered Toyota Vitz taxi, which the inmate purportedly leaped into and fled.
The prosecutor explained that the accused underwent interrogation by their superiors at the Prisons National headquarters, leading to a formal complaint being filed with the Police on February 13, 2024.
During the ensuing investigation, the accused officers guided the police to the hotel. Analysis of CCTV footage revealed that the convict and his alleged wife escaped by jumping from the first-floor balcony while the accused officers were relaxing in the reception area after receiving meals from the convict’s supposed wife.
It was only when the hotel staff alerted them to check on the prisoner that the accused officers realized he had escaped.
STORY BY; PORTIA AKU SHIKA GAFAH
