7 Policemen given 10-day ultimatum to produce escapee

Seven policemen on duty at the Takoradi Metropolitan Police Command have been given a 10-day ultimatum to produce an escapee, a Nigerian, suspected of kidnapping who escaped from lawful custody.

The ultimatum elapses on January 9, 2019.

A police source told the Daily Graphic yesterday that failure to produce the suspect after the ultimatum would result in the seven policemen being subjected to internal criminal procedures for “carelessness on duty.”

Kidnapping

The suspect, identified as Samuel Udoetuk-Wills, is suspected of being behind the kidnapping of teenage girls in and around the country.

He was arrested on December 22, 2018, after several months of investigations, at Kanssawurodu, a suburb of Sekondi/Takoradi in connection with three missing teenage girls and was put before court on December 24, 2018.

According to police source, he was remanded in police custody to reappear on January 9, 2019.

Invisible commander

According to the source, on the day of escape, an officer described only as “Invisible Commander” ordered the transfer of all inmates in the cell to the Takoradi Central Market Police Post, except the escapee.

Officers at the command were puzzled as to why all the other suspects in custody were ordered to be transferred to a police post at the Takoradi Central Market when there was no emergency.

The escape, according to the source, happened between 4:00p.m. and 5:00p.m on December 30, 2018.

It said the burglar proof at the upper part of the cell where the suspect was kept was cut with a hacksaw blade to pave the way for the escape.

Police officers on duty, he said,  failed to hear the sound of the cutting of the burglar proof and some had questioned how the suspect at that time of the afternoon managed to escape without being noticed.

When contacted, the Regional Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Olivia Adiku, confirmed the escape and the ultimatum to the seven policemen.

She said police investigations were ongoing and expressed the hope that the suspect would be re-arrested.