Prison Officers In Court

The two prison officers who allegedly aided Yaw Asamoah, one of the four 'professional' armed robbers who killed a 26-year-old budding pastor of the Light House Chapel in a robbery operation at Gbawe, to escape from lawful custody have been hauled before an Accra Regional Tribunal.

The two prison officers, Assistant Chief Officer Godfred Asah, 52 and Corporal Nana Appiah-Kubi, 37, all stationed at Nsawam Medium Security Prisons, were put before the court presided over by Justice P.K. Aggrey to face a charge of aiding escape.

The officers have been accused of aiding and facilitating the escape of Yaw Asamoah from lawful custody but they pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The court, having regarded the circumstances of the case, as well the pleas of Alexander Abban, their counsel, granted them bail in the sum of GH¢10, 000 with two sureties each to re-appear on November 16, 2010.

The prosecutor, DSP E.Y. Frimpong, briefing the court on the incident, disclosed that on October 27, 2010, convict Yaw Asamoah was under the escort of the two accused persons to be taken to an Accra High Court No. 7.

The convict, who was serving a 20-year sentence at the prison for a robbery case, was also facing rape and murder charges before the High Court.

According to him, the two prison officers arrived at the courtroom around 8 am with the prisoner when the court was not in session.

They however removed the handcuffs from the wrists of the convict and left him without a guard.

The officers, who are currently on interdiction, allegedly left the courtroom and engaged in phone conversations.

The convict, according to the prosecutor, took advantage of the prison officers' unprofessional posture and took to his heels.

An onlooker who got suspicious of the convict's movement enquired from the officers what the situation was and therefore drew their attention to the convict's conduct.

The prosecutor said when information about the escape of the convict subsequently reached the Accra Regional Police Command, DCOP Rose Atinga Bio, the regional commander and a team of officers visited the scene.

He noted that an investigation conducted on the spot confirmed the convict's escape.

The prison authorities, after further investigation, released the officers to the police for prosecution.

It would be recalled that Yaw Asamoah, 30, Kofi Yeboah, 30, Kwabena Ebo, 30, Osei Prempeh, 23, who murdered the pastor, were given a 37-year jail term after pleading guilty to charges such as conspiracy and robbery.

By Mary Anane