The public recognition Cpl Edward Opoku is getting now is not because he got a promotion at work, but because of what he did that earned him that plaudit.
While still a lance corporal with the Ghana Prisons Service, this brave young man went out of his way to cause the capture of a fugitive who escaped from the Ahinsan Camp Prison in Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region.
According to a report by graphic.com.Gh, Cpl Edward Opoku, with service number 11557, and who is a sound engineer with the Prison’s Master Piece Band, executed professionalism and bravery in his action, earning him this recognition.
The report stated that on December 3, 2022, the officer, who is based in Accra said he was on his way to visit a friend at Asiwa in Kumasi, but made a stop at Bomfa Akyiase after the driver of the commercial vehicle he was travelling with, decided to end the journey at that point.
He said that before he could continue his journey, however, he heard some residents in the area speaking about a fugitive they had arrested.
The report added that the officer was then informed that the man had escaped from prison and was caught when he was stealing a mobile phone in the community.
Although the residents were angry and on the verge of lynching the fugitive, Cpl Opoku took the risk and went in to rescue him, sustaining injuries in the process.
“I sustained injuries while trying to protect the fugitive. I feared for the life of the fugitive but the angry mob would not listen to me. had to show them my identification card at some point,” he said, the report added.
Being successful, he took the captured fugitive to the nearest police station at Pemenase, a community after Bomfa Akyiase, but the policemen there refused to receive the man because “they feared he could pass away in their custody because the prisoner was weak from the beatings.” Cpl Edward Opoku is said to have taken the escapee prisoner to a medical facility where they both received medical attention.
He then sent the jailbreaker to the Kumasi Central Prison and later transferred to the Prison’s headquarters in Accra, the report added.
For his bravery, the leadership of the Ghana Prisons Service honoured him with a promotion.
