Johnson Kombian
Following the reported attempt by Johnson Kombian to escape from the Nsawam Medium Security Prison, DAILY GUIDE has learnt that authorities of the Ghana Prisons Service are investigating the circumstances surrounding the attempted jail break.
Johnson Kombian, a notorious jail breaker, who is serving his sentence at the Nsawam Prison, reportedly attempted breaking jail again in the early hours of Monday.
However, he was not lucky as he was grabbed in the process.
A source at the prison said Kombian – who is currently on a death sentence for killing two police officers on October 17, 2010 – moved from his ‘condemned cell’ to the main prison yard together with his two cell mates around midnight.
The source claimed that a vigilant prison warden who was making his night rounds spotted Kombian and the two others – whose identities are not yet known – about to escape from the prison, but were immediately grabbed.
According to the source, authorities at the prison have been alarmed by the jail break attempt by the convict who once escaped from a Tamale prison.
“No one knows how they came out of their condemned cell to the main prison yard around midnight Sunday. The key to their cell was not broken either. This is the first time….” the source disclosed.
Another inside source said Kombian might have been assisted by some wardens to cut the chains around his legs before escaping from the cells.
According to the Public Relations Officer (PRO) at the Prison, DSP Courage Atsem, investigation is ongoing to establish the circumstances leading to the attempted escape.
Johnson Kombian, alias Garkum, is a farmer and businessman, whom the police have described as a “notorious armed robber and jail breaker.”
He allegedly conspired with one Kofi Naaman, known as Accra Boy, to rob Djato Mathias and then attempted to kill him.
He was arrested, tried and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment by the Tamale Circuit Court, but he escaped while serving his jail term. Kombian was later re-arrested.
He reportedly fled to his hometown, Nakpanduri, in the Bunkprugu Yunyoo District of the Northern Region, where he purportedly sought refuge.
According to the prosecutors, Kombian and his accomplices on October 17, 2010, received information that the police were closing in on them following which they laid ambush and attacked three police officers, killing two of them.
The prosecutors indicated that Kombian and his accomplices fired gunshots at the police officers who were on a motorbike, causing them to fall into a 10-metre deep valley.
They continued firing into the valley where the officers landed but they (officers) also returned fire.
The gangsters fled the scene and later Kombian crossed to neighbouring Togo.
However, on November 19, 2010, he was arrested through the efforts of INTERPOL when he reportedly crossed the border at Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo District to visit his girlfriend.
Kombian was on August 19, 2015 sentenced to death by hanging on two counts of murder by a seven-member jury.
He is also serving a 30-year jail term for conspiracy.
From Daniel Bampoe, Nsawam