Kombian's jujumen grabbed

There were gunshots at the premises of the Cocoa Affairs court yesterday as two men, believed to be sympathisers of Johnson Kombian, the alleged armed gangster, were, arrested by the police for allegedly attempting through spiritual means to "rescue" the alleged cop killer from police grips, a few minutes after his conviction by an Accra Circuit Court.

The two men, whose identities were yet to be established had allegedly positioned themselves near the van that was to convey Kombian to prison and had begun chanting when the suspect was being sent into the vehicle amidst tight security.

However, the two suspects were spotted by the security officers and apprehended before their alleged charms could work.

Information gathered indicated that the two men were believed to be chanting for the handcuffs on Kombian's hand to break loose.

Indeed, according to the police escorts, Kombian's handcuffs became suddenly loose on his hands and they had to quickly re-handcuff him to avoid any eventuality before he entered the van.

The dramatic scene attracted curious spectators who wanted to catch a glimpse of Kombian, the jail breaker with alleged magical powers which enabled him to disappear when some of his accomplices looked him in the eye.

As the crowd milled closer around the suspect, one prison officer fired three warning shots into the air to scare away people from getting closer to the van.

The two suspected spiritualists were later whisked away in a police vehicle to an unknown destination.

Earlier, Kombian popularly known as Burger, was convicted and sentenced to six years imprisonment by the court presided over by Baffour Kyei, after he pleaded guilty to an offence of escaping from lawful custody.

Even though by section 226 of the criminal procedure code, the maximum sentence for a misdemeanour was three years, the judge, using his discretion under section 300 of the code which empowers him to enhance sentences in a situation in which the accused was convicted for repetition of crime, sentenced him to six years.

His lawyer, George Asamaney had pleaded with the court to give him five years as stated in a scale of punishment table annexed to section 300, but he later conceded, allowing the judge to maintain his stand.

Counsel, who said he had been informed that his client was shackled and handcuffed 24 hours daily, pleaded with the judge to urge the prison authorities to treat Kombian humanely.

The court obliged and asked that he should be treated well.

The judge also demanded from the prosecutor what was being done to persons who aided him to escape from custody and in response, Principal State Attorney Rexford Wiredu indicated that some people had been arrested and would soon be processed for court.

In an interview with journalists, Chief Inspector Amoani Anoff, the investigator in the case, also disclosed that 21 prison officers including Chief Frafra, who was named by Kombian as having assisted him to escape prison custody, were arrested but were on bail because the police did not have the authority to detain them.

The arrested officers, according to the investigator, include “13 officers who in one way or the other were found to have a connection with the infamous escape either by negligence or aiding the escape."

Johnson Kombian is believed to have killed two policemen at Nakpanduri in the Northern Region and fled to Togo.

He allegedly had a fierce shootout with the Togolese security forces on the day of his arrest before he was overpowered and handed over to the Head of Interpol in Ghana.

Kombian, a farmer, said he was aided to escape from prison by a warden called Chief Frafra after the latter had asked for GH¢40,000 from him.

Mr. Wiredu disclosed that in early January 2010, Kombian was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment by a Tamale Circuit Court for escaping from Gambaga prisons.

The jail breaker was also facing charges such as attempted murder, possession of firearms without lawful authority and escaping from lawful custody at that time.

Prosecution noted that in January 2010, at about 7:20am, DSP Peter Naab, the operations officer in charge of Tamale Central Prisons detected that Kombian was nowhere to be found and reported his disappearance to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Regional Office in Tamale.

On receipt of the information, some CID officers went to the prisons and noticed that the place the accused escaped through was broken and the debris of the wall packed in the cell, adding that none of the police officers was able to tell how the leg of the iron was forced open.

Prosecution stated that further investigations into the prison yard revealed that the blanket, which was on the top of the outer wall on the prison yard was not disturbed.

It also said the daily journal of the Tamale Central Prisons revealed that the escaped prisoner was in custody that day between 11:30 pm and 3:30 am.

It added that all the prison officers who were there on the day Kombian escaped were quizzed but they denied knowledge of his escape.

The suspect was handed over to the CID Headquarters after his arrest in Togo and on interrogation, he admitted he escaped with the help of a certain prison officer who he could identify. Kombian stated that the said officer provided him with a knife and a handcuffed key with which to escape.

The state attorney told the court that the accused person escaped from prison in 2007 and not long afterwards, he stole a cassette recorder from Bolga and was jailed again for six years.

Mr. Wiredu stated that Kombian immediately after escaping from prison ran to Nigeria where he opened a shop and again found himself in the grips of the police for various offences.