In connection with the escape of a Chinese prisoner from the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra one week ago, two prison wardens have been turned over to the police for criminal investigations.
This comes after the Prisons Administration placed them under interdiction so that an inquiry could be conducted.
When Wang Xiao, a 39-year-old prisoner, escaped, he was being looked after by two wardens (names withheld) during a dental check at the hospital.
Superintendent of Prisons Adamu Latif Abdul, Head of Public Relations at the Ghana Prisons Service (GPS), revealed this to the Ghanaian Times.
He said that the police will be conducting criminal investigations on the two jail wardens who had been arrested a week prior.
According to Prisons Service records, the prisoner was scheduled to visit a hospital and be escorted by guards, according to Supt Abdul Latif.
An incident involving a Chinese prisoner from the Nsawam Medium Prisons in the Eastern Region was said to have occurred inside the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital medical facility.
It was said that Xiao, who was allegedly serving a one-year prison sentence in the Nsawam Prisons for theft, was ill and required dental care at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
In the meantime, a press release from the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital’s Head of Public Relations, Mustapha Salifu, which the Ghanaian Times was able to view, verified that the prisoner Wang Xiao visited the hospital’s Dental Clinic on Wednesday, February 7, 2024, at roughly 8:00am, accompanied by two prison wardens.
The statement claims that when they arrived, they saw that the prisoner was not dressed like an inmate and was not wearing handcuffs.
The report stated that after paying GH¢167 at the registration unit for being a non-Ghanaian, the prisoner went to the consulting room to be checked over and have an X-ray ordered in order to help with future management.
According to the statement, Xiao went ahead and had the X-ray taken with the jail wardens while he was still uncuffed.
It stated that the prisoner had a briefing on the medical procedure following the X-ray, with an estimated cost of GH¢606.00.
“However, he was rescheduled to return for the procedure on February 9, 2024, as he did not have sufficient funds to undergo treatment immediately,” the statement continued.
It stated that the two prison wardens accompanied the inmate as they left the hospital.
The statement refuted claims that the prisoner escaped while receiving care at the hospital and indicated that the detainee had not been seen since rumors of his escape appeared in several media outlets.
