C/R: Prison officers assault Taxi driver at Assin Atonsu

53-year-old Taxi Driver identified as Essien Antwi has been brutalised by some Prison Service officers at Assin Atonsu in the Central Region.

The prison officers were on their Upper East Region for a funeral celebration when the incident occurred.

Eyewitnesses speaking to Kasapa News Yaw Boagyan disclosed that the prison officers were traveling from Cape Coast direction towards Assin Fosu direction while the taxi driver behind the cab with registration number GW-9112-12 was traveling from Assin Fosu direction towards Cape Coast direction.

On reaching Assin Atonsu township, there was a broken-down fuel tanker occupying one side of the road leaving all the vehicles from both ends to use the remaining side of the road.

This means one vehicle had to stop for the other and in an instance where the taxi driver who had passengers onboard thought it was safe for him to go, the prison officers insisted the taxi driver should rather stop for them to go.

This resulted in an intense altercation between the prison officers and the driver and, in the process, three personnel of the prison service jumped out of their vehicle and subjected the driver to severe beatings.

The driver, who went unconscious amid profuse mouth bleeding was rushed to the St. Francis Xavier Hospital by some bystander drivers for medical treatment.

Meanwhile, an officer who did not disclose his identity, however explained that the taxi driver rather attacked the service personnel when they confronted him to move his vehicle to pave the way for them.

A team of police officers led by the Central North Regional Crime Officer, Superintendent Daniel Kwabena Darko, and the District Commander, ASP Jacob Kumedzro visited the victim at the hospital to ascertain the degrees of the injuries.

To unravel the circumstances surrounding the whole incident, some officers of the prison service were detained but were later released on police inquiry to allow further investigations into the matter.