How policeman who foiled Circle phone scam was assaulted before rescue

• He had sought to mediate in a fake phone sale

• It took a police patrol team to rescue him from his aggressors 

The Greater Accra Regional Police Command gave an inside story to how an officer was assaulted by civilians at Nkrumah Circle when he sought to intervene in the sale of a fake phone to an unsuspecting buyer.

How Constable found himself at a ‘crime scene’

The officer in question was identified as Police Constable Nii Okay Sampa, who according to the police was gravely assaulted on Monday at about 1530 hours at Nkrumah Circle in Accra.

Mediation, foiling phone swap

Narrating the incident to the GNA, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Juliana Obeng, Head of the regional Public Affairs Unit, of the Ghana Police Service said Sampa had gone to Circle to meet a friend.

On his way, he saw a gentleman being harassed by a group of men and intervened to settle the issue which was about the sale of a mobile phone.

The victim said the seller had agreed with him on the price of the phone only for the former to later reject the deal, which situation led to a heated argument. ‘Mediator’ Sampa will resolve the issue between the two parties and the sale was now to be effected, i.e. exchange of merchandise.

The seller now requested the phone be handed to him to package for the buyer which the buyer acceded to but as is usually the case with fraudsters at Circle, he attempted to swap the bargained for phone which plan the constable had seen and subsequently thwarted.

The Policeman prevented the seller from giving a fake phone to the victim and collected the original phone, the fake phone and a phone case from the seller, putting all the seized items in his pocket.

Attack launched, Patrol team to rescue

With the seizure of the phones came the aggression, the DSP said a group of men attacked the officer beating him to the point of him bleeding profusely and leaving him with a cut on his upper lips. The DSP said the attackers, “injured him gravely.”

They will proceed to retrieve the two phones and the phone case from him by cutting his pocket open. Rescue came in the form of a Patrol Team that happened to be in the area.

Two aggressors in police custody

Out of the aggressors, the Patrol Team arrested two men in the persons of Evans Addo aged 42 and Godfred Akrofi, 32 years old, they are assisting police with investigations and will subsequently be arraigned before court.

Police condemnation of attack

“The Accra Regional Police Command unreservedly condemns attacks on law enforcement officers. The command strongly warns that in no uncertain terms will such acts be countenanced,” she said.

The GNA report added that DSP Obeng cautioned that the command would deal ruthlessly with any individual or group of persons found culpable of obstructing or attacking the Police in the performance of lawful duty.

She encouraged members of the general public to channel their concerns through the Police Public Affairs Unit for the appropriate assistance.