The Liberian Vice President, Jeremiah Koung, was recently in Ghana. His mission in Ghana was inspired by his desire to locate a good Samaritan — a Ghanaian police officer, whose professional conduct, helped him and his five other friends, to escape jail term in Ghana, some 24 years ago. They were wrongly labelled and arrested as armed robbers. He was here to show appreciation to the police officer, Emmanuel Ekow Addison, now retired.
Narrating the incident in an interview on the AM Show on Accra-based Joy News, the Vice President, said he used to be a businessman before venturing into politics in his youthful days.
That, he said, in the late 90s, he used to come to Togo together with his friends to buy cars to sell in his home country, which at the time, was experiencing a civil war.
He said in one of their journeys, they came with a Côte d’Ivoire operated transport company called STIF to Ghana. Their final destination was Togo. However, they made a stopover in Ghana to buy some gas cylinders to sell in their country.
Mr Koung explained that the STIF bus got to Ghana about 1am to 2am from Danale in Côte d’Ivoire.
He said because it was 2am, one of his friends suggested that instead of going to book a hotel, they should rather find an entertain centre to while away time so that when they day break, they can go and buy their cylinders. They all agreed.
He indicated that they found one entertainment centre called “Yakiki.” That, he said, at about 4am, which was Sunday, he then remembered that shops in Ghana do not open, hence suggesting to his friends that they should continue their journey to Togo to get the cars but on their return, they can then buy their gas cylinders in Ghana.
That, he added, when they got out of Yakiki, they saw a mini Nissan bus, a 16 seater, parked outside. He said they signaled the driver and told him to take them to Togo and that they will pay for all the seats.
Mr Koung explained that they had also brought one Togolese driver who they usually contracted to help them drive the cars the bought to Liberia with them.
He said when they got to the bus, they saw two guys already seated but they thought they were the driver’s conductors.
He explained that when the bus moved, because they were already tired after partying and taken some “beer”, they all fell asleep with the exception of the Togolese guy, a Muslim, who did not take any drink.
He said after some time on the road, he heard the Togolese guy shouting “These are criminals,” repeating it many time, hence waking all of them up.
That, Mr Koung narrated, they all got up and luckily for them, one of his friends was a former military person who took part in the Liberia’s war so he confronted the guys and told them he was no scared of their guns and that they fire their guns and nothing will happen to him.
He said they overpowered them, causing their attackers to rather take to their heels.
According to him, when they were asleep in the bus, the driver and the two guys whom they mistaken as conductors started conversing in Twi, discussing whether to start the attack at the point they had reached on the journey or to wait a little, to which the driver told them to wait a little bit since where they were was not secured enough for the operation. But fortunately, Mr Koung explained, the Togolese guy understood the Twi, hence raising alarm.
He explained that after the guys bolted, he realised that the driver left the key in the ignition. That, he said, he told one of his friends to start the car and turn back so that they could go to the nearest police station to report the incident.
Unknown to them, he said, the two guys who were with the driver and bolted had gone to the nearby Naval Base to made a case that some Liberians were robbing a Ghanaian driver.
Mr Koung said when they were in the process of moving the car onto the road, the Naval personnel got to the scene and misconstrued their attempt, they were considered armed robbers, hence Naval personnel started firing gunshots, which caused them to run in different directions for cover.
Unfortunately, he said, the Togolese guy and one of his friends were arrested and almost lynched, with the Togolese guy losing two of his teeth. Similarly, he said, his Liberian friend also sustained deep cut on his head.
He said he and one of his friends managed to escape arrest into the bushes, stressing that because the weather was still dark, they remained in the bush till day break.
Mr Koung added that when the day broke, they were able to find their way to the Ashaiman police station to make a report, adding that a police with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Emmanuel Ekow Addison, who was on duty at the time, was tasked to handle the case.
He explained that Mr Addison followed them to the crime scene and when they got there, people around told them about the robbery incident, including the Togolese and his friend who were arrested by the Naval officers.
He said Mr Addison took them to the Naval base to inquire about the incident, upon which one of the officers, confirmed and told them the suspects had been taken to the Fishing Port police station.
Mr Koung explained that they followed up to the Fishing Port police station and when Mr Addison said he had come to follow up on the incident and introduced them as those who came to report the incident, he (Mr Koung) and his friend were also handcuffed and put behind bars. They were considered escapees from the robbery incident.
He said Mr Addison therefore had to go back to his superiors to report what had happened at the Fishing Port police station. That, he added, after the intervention of Mr Addison’s boss, they were transferred to the Ashaiman police station.
To prove that they were businessmen, he explained, Mr Addison asked them to show him the money they were going to use to buy the cars in Togo.
That, he added, he was initially hesitant to disclose it because he was scared he would lose the money to the police. He explained that they had buried their money in the bushes where they went to hide after the robbery incident took place, a sum of US$40000.
However, he said, he had a change of mind to disclose the location of the money when spent a day at the Ashaiman police cells. That was after he had inquired from some of the inmates about how long they had been there and realised some had spent years there.
Mr Koung said he told Mr Addison about where they kept their money and they went to pick it. For him, the money was the evidence that played a major role in their release.
He explained that upon series of interrogations, they were found innocent of the crime and their money, handed over to them.
That, he said, he decided to give Mr Addison US$1000 but he rejected the money so he felt maybe it was too small so he added another one thousand, which Mr Addison again rejected.
He said he told his friends that they should top up the amount, to which they added another one thousand dollars to it.
Mr Koung said Mr Addison rejected the US$3000 and told them he didn’t help them because of their money and that he was doing his job as a police CID.
For him, what Mr Addison did gave him a shock of his life and since he returned to Liberia, he had been trying to locate him to appreciate him for what he did for him and his friends.
Unfortunately, he said, he did not know the full name of Mr Addition at the time and since it’s been many years after the incident took place, it was difficult finding him.
The Liberian Vice President who appeared on the show together with Mr Addison expressed his gratitude to the Ghanaian police officer for his professionalism. Source: graphic.com.gh
