How Prisoners ‘Chat’ Officers On Facebook: On The Trail Of Ankaful Prison Fraudsters (2)

Investigations conducted by our reporter, Samuel Ansah Boateng, into how inmates at the Ankaful Maximum Security Prisons use contrabands to defraud unsuspecting victims, whilst serving long jail terms under tight security conditions have taken a new twist.

Your authoritative paper however, per facts gathered, can report without fear that some officers 'flirt' on facebook (social media) with some of the inmates.

Readers would recall from our previous publication, on last Wednesday, 10th September 2014, captioned “INSIDE ANKAFUL PRISONS….INMATES DEFRAUD VICTIMS…POSE AS PEACE-KEEPING OFFICERS TO PREYS', on how a convicted criminal, one Samuel Oye Mensah, at the Ankaful Maximum Security Prisons, whilst still serving a 45 year jail term on a robbery incident, defrauded a victim to the tune of GH4, 000 and other items.

Although the means by which Samuel Oye Mensah sneaked a mobile phone into the prison yard remains questionable, further underground investigations have exposed former prison Officer, Lance Corporal John Jessie, as one of the officers the fraud kingpin had be-friend since 2004, on Facebook.

Our checks on John Jessie indicated he was currently working with the PAYDU Water Works in Cape Coast after leaving the Prisons Service, for reasons best known to him.

On the same social media, one other officer, neatly dressed in Uniform, Bernard Annor, who was still serving as a lance corporal, stationed at the Ankaful Prisons, was also in the friends list of the prisoner.

Interestingly, Samuel Oye Mensah posted a picture of a particular young man on his Facebook timeline on 8th March 2014, and in the course of our investigations we gathered, the picture was registered with another Facebook account named seraline Stephanie; who was apparently a friend to Samuel oye mensah.

In the friends list of seraline Stephanie, another prison officer also popped up as Jackson Berko; an indication which proved that the fraud kingpin, worked with a cartel of prisoners and outsiders , and indeed had connections with some of the prison officers.

Confessions deepened, as Oye Mensah said her mother was one Felicia Brago, a resident of Kumasi-Ejisu, in the Ashanti Region, and that he was a half Nigerian, as his father hailed from Nigeria.

When his mother, Madam Felicia Brago was contacted, she said she had had enough of Samuel Oye Mensah, and that “upon all that he has gotten himself into, he is still not remorseful.”

He further confessed to have played various roles in defrauding unsuspecting victims with the use of a mobile phone and his Facebook account, and that he used the monies he had defrauded to cater for himself.

On Monday, May 19, 2014, a 27- year- old Zenabu Alidu, was caught trafficking Indian hemp to two inmates, Masahudu Mukeedi and Ali Mohamed at the Ankaful Prisons, only by share dint of dedicated and expertise prison officers who were then on duty.

Your authoritative paper can confirm on authority that the Ankaful Maximum Security Prisons is under-resourced, has no detecting machines, to check visitors and even prisoners before entering the prison yards.

There were indeed fixed CCT cameras, but a thorough check by our reporter, Samuel Ansah Boateng, indicated that the Cameras were not effective.

We also noticed there were no proper computerized data on prisoners; a situation which made it difficult to identify fraud kin-pin, Samuel Oye Mensah until we traveled from Accra to Ankaful Prisons, to confirm.

After several meetings with high profiled officers at the Ghana Prison's Headquarters in Accra, DSP Vitalis Aiyeh, the Chief Public Relations Officer for the Ghana Prisons Service said the issue of trafficking contrabands into prisons cells had been a major problem to the Service, and that there were records which prove that unscrupulous officers had even aided prisoners in such criminal acts.

Ms. Matilda Baffour Awuah, the Controller General for Ghana Prisons Service, on her part also felt unfortunate of the situation, and said plans were far advanced to help curb such instances, as Jammers had been arranged into the country; to be circulated to the various prisons.

She said even if prisoners, by other uncertain means outsmart officers and sneak contrabands like mobile phones into the prison yards, the Jammers would interfere with the network and stop it from functioning .