Some Prison Service officers have allegedly assaulted a 53-year-old taxi driver identified as Essien Antwi at Assin Atonsu in the Central Region. 

The prison officers were reportedly in the area for a funeral when the incident occurred.

Eyewitnesses narrated that, the prison officers were traveling from Cape Coast direction towards Assin Fosu direction while the driver in charge of the vehicle with registration number GW-9112-12 was traveling in the opposite direction.

On reaching Assin Atonsu township, there was a broken-down fuel tanker occupying one side of the road, leaving all the vehicles from both ends to use the remaining side of the road.

This meant one vehicle had to stop for the other and in an instance where the taxi driver who had passengers onboard thought it was safe for him to go, the Prison officers insisted he should stop for them to go.

This resulted in an intense altercation and, in the process, three personnel jumped out of their vehicle and subjected the driver to severe beatings.

The driver, who went unconscious amid profuse mouth bleeding, was rushed to the St. Francis Xavier Hospital by some bystander drivers for medical treatment.

Meanwhile, an officer who spoke on condition of anonymity claimed the taxi driver first attacked the officers when they confronted him to move his vehicle.

A team of police officers led by the Central North Regional Crime Officer, Superintendent Daniel Kwabena Darko, and the District Commander, ASP Jacob Kumedzro visited the victim at the hospital to ascertain the degrees of the injuries.

To unravel the circumstances surrounding the whole incident, some Prison officers were detained but were later released on police inquiry to allow further investigations into the matter.

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