<<Print>>

Two policemen have been arrested by the Brong Ahafo Regional Police Command for illegally providing escort services for a cargo truck transporting 390 bags of fertiliser meant for cocoa farmers at Sankore to Kumasi.

Constables Kyei Amoah, 27, and Osei Tutu, 29, are part of the Visibility Department of the Suame Magazine Police Command in the Ashanti Region.

They were arrested, upon a tip-off, by the police on duty in Acherensua last Sunday, July 19, 2015.
Facts of the case

The Brong Ahafo Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Maxwell Atingane, told a news conference in Sunyani yesterday that about 10 p.m. last Sunday, police on duty at the Acherensua Barrier, upon a tip-off, intercepted a vehicle carrying 390 bags of cocoa fertiliser with two police escorts.

He said the policemen were allegedly hired by an agro-chemical dealer in Kumasi, identified as Job Asamoah, to provide escort for a Leyland cargo truck, with registration number GT 7050 A, which was transporting 390 bags of cocoa fertiliser from Sankore to Kumasi.

Mr Atingane explained that the truck, together with the bags of fertiliser and the policemen, was sent to the Brong Ahafo Regional Police Headquarters in Sunyani for interrogation.

He said the driver of the truck, Banahene Darkoh, 27, said he was asked by his car owner to go to Sankore to load the fertiliser to Kumasi.
Processing for court

Mr Atingane said the police were investigating the case and that they would soon process the suspects for court.
The suspects are in police custody.
Escort authorisation

However, a police source told the Daily Graphic that the policemen claimed they had been sent to provide the escort services by the Suame Station Officer.

On whether the said policemen could provide escort without authorisation, the Brong Ahafo Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mr Christopher Tawiah, said, “Our system of policing is becoming so professional that if you claim your station officer assigned you to such an important duty, there is the need for you to make necessary entries in the daily occurrences book.”

He, therefore, advised policemen to refrain from providing escort services for vehicles they had not been authorised to escort.