Record of police cell breaks

22nd Jan 2018 | Source: Graphic Online

The escape of seven suspects from the Kwabenya Poilce Station in the early hours of Sunday has set many asking whether the police who are tasked with ensuring the safety of Ghanaians are themselves capable of ensuring their own safety.

Over a period of time incidents at various police stations across the country and acts against policemen have left many confused and in a state of fear and panic.

2 suspects escape from Asiwa Police Station

In 2015, two suspects in police custody at the Asiwa Police station at Bekwai in the Ashanti Region escaped from custody.

The suspects were arrested for engaging in illegal mining and theft of some excavators but they escaped after using some tools to break metal bars in the cells.

The cell break came three days after a similar incident happened at the Tepa Police station also in the Ashanti Region and brought to three the number of jailbreaks in three months in the region.

Five escape from Ofankor Police cell

In August 2017, the Police went on a manhunt for five suspected criminals who escaped from police custody at the Ofankor Police Station in Accra.

The five were under investigation for various degrees of crimes, including armed robbery and stealing, but managed to escape the cells through the ceiling of the toilet in the facility.

Confirming the incident to Citi News at the time, the Deputy Public Relations Officer of the Accra Regional Police Command, Inspector Kwabena Danso, said the police had increased its vigilance and called on the public to assist them to re-arrest the suspects.

Denu Police cell break

Police in the Volta Region undertook a search for four more suspected criminals who escaped from a cell at Denu. This followed the re-arrest of three of the prisoners.

The men escaped on March 12, 2015.

The Volta Regional Police Commander at the time, DCOP Peterkin Yentumi Gyinaye, who confirmed the arrest to TV3, said efforts were underway to look for the remaining four escapees.

Murder suspect escapes from police cell in Bongo

In September 2013, Anyagre Atinga-Dombire (aka Labista), a murder suspect, escaped from his prison cell at Bongo in the Upper East Region where he was being held on remand.

Labista was alleged to have severally stabbed a young man, Ayua Atinga, to death on August 20, 2013 at Bongo-Soe in the Bongo District.

After being processed to appear in court on Wednesday, September 18, 2013, the suspect mysteriously escaped from his Bongo Prison cell where he was being held in custody.

How two remand prisoners escaped from Tepa Police Cells

In 2015, the police released the photo of one of the two remand prisoners who escaped from lawful custody from the Tepa District Police in the Ahafo Ano North District of the Ashanti Region.

The police also released pictures of how the escapees cut the reinforced iron bars at the back of the cell with hacksaw blades and escaped through the opening.

Police have since mounted a search for the two escapees, Ernest Owusu Affram, 26 and Shadrach Nyame, 39. The two are said to have escaped between the hours of 1 a.m. and 2 a.m.