Francis Buabeng and Albert Ansah (R)
The Weija Circuit Court has remanded in police custody – a driver and his mate – who allegedly beat up a police officer mercilessly at the Mallam traffic light area in Accra.
Francis Buabeng, a 26-year-old driver and Albert Ansah, a 33-year-old driver’s mate, were captured on video beating up a policeman identified later as Constable Julius Mawule Ekpe, who is attached to the Regional Visibility Unit of the Accra Regional Police Command.
They pleaded not guilty and have been remanded by the court presided over by Bernard Bentle to reappear on April 1, 2019.
They were charged with four counts, including conspiracy to commit crime, assault on public officer, causing damage to police accoutrements and obstruction.
The victim, Constable Ekpe, who sustained various degrees of injury, has been treated and discharged at the Police Hospital.
The prosecutor, Chief Inspector George Gohoho, told the court that the incident occurred on March 14 at Mallam in Accra.
According to him, Constable Ekpe was on duty on the Kasoa-Mallam road and spotted a sprinter commercial (trotro) bus with registration number AW 855-14 loading passengers in the middle of the Kasoa-Mallam highway.
“The policeman approached the driver to move his vehicle from the road but the driver and his mate who were busily calling for passengers refused to move,” the prosecutor narrated.
He told the court that two other oncoming vehicles crashed and a motor rider also hit another private car in the process as a result of the way the ‘trotro’ parked in the middle of the road.
The sprinter driver upon realising that his action had caused accidents, sped off from the scene.
The prosecuting officer said the police officer, who was then using a motorbike, gave them a hot chase and stopped them at the Mallam traffic light area.
In the course of arresting the driver for the traffic offence, the driver and his mate got furious and gave the policeman a sound beating.
A passenger secretly videoed the incident and posted it on social media.
Constable Ekpe, during the course of the melee, called for reinforcement but by the time the reinforcement team arrived, the driver and his mate had abandoned the vehicle and fled from the scene. The police towed the vehicle to the Odorkor Police Station where the police officer lodged his complaint.
By Linda Tenyah- Ayettey