A prison officer, Sergeant Asante Ansah, displayed a high sense of professionalism when he managed to single-handedly arrest two suspected criminals who escaped from the James Town Police Station in Accra.

Narrating the circumstances of the arrest to Graphic. com. gh, Sergeant Ansah said while driving towards James Town near the defunct Usher Fort Prison, he spotted two unescorted persons in hand-cuffs running towards the sea shore.

According to Sergent Ansah, he immediately had an inkling that they might have escaped from lawful custody and therefore, parked his car and gave them a hot chase.

He caught up with them after a while and after a long struggle, arrested and took them to the Cantonments Police Station, which was the nearest, after making official booking at the Prisons Headquarters.

Sergeant Ansah said his calls for help to effect the arrest of the two men, fell on deaf of ears as the people around stood unconcerned while he struggled it all alone with the escapees.

The fugitives, upon interrogation, the prison officer indicated, admitted escaping from the James Town Police Station.

An investigation into their escape has started.

The Chief Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Prison Service, DSP Courage Atsem, lauded the patriotism and professional acumen of Sergeant Ansah and called on other officers in the service to emulate it.

Prison authorities in Ghana have occasionally come face to face with prisoners who break jail ostensibly to escape from lawful custody.

In October 2011 six remand prisoners broke out of a moving vehicle while they were being transported from the Nsawam Prison to Accra.

The prisoners were said to have staged the escape when the van in which they were being transported in slowed down at a toll booth near the Nsawam Prison.

They were reported to have broken the doors of the moving van and ran into a nearby bush at Pokuase near Amasaman in the Ga West District.

The Police together with the Prison officers were on a manhunt to re-arrest the escapees but it still remains uncertain if the fugitives were re-arrested.


Source: Citifmonline