Trotro driver knocks down, kills policeman in Accra

The policeman who was knocked down by a commercial minibus driver (trotro) on Friday morning around the Trinity Theological Seminary in Accra in an attempt to avoid arrest for an alleged traffic offence, has been confirmed dead.

Identified as Sergeant Moses Appiah, he was pronounced dead at the 37 Military Hospital.

The incident happened around 10 am and within minutes after the injured policeman who was with the Madina Unit of the Motor Transport and Traffic Department (MTTD), was taken to the hospital, he was pronounced dead.

The body has since been deposited at the Police Hospital in Accra for preservation.

The culprit commercial bus driver and his conductor [mate] are on the run and the police have mounted a search for them as part of investigations.

Eyewitnesses told Graphic Online that the driver hit the policeman and dragged him on the road for about 50 metres as he [driver] tried to avoid arrest over an alleged traffic offence.

Sergeant Appiah sustained serious injuries and later died from his injuries at the 37 Military Hospital.

The “trotro” driver was escaping an arrest by Sergeant Appiah and his colleague Corporal Joshua Azure who had chased him with a police vehicle and stopped him on the Trinity Avenue near the entrance of the Trinity Theological Seminary at Menpeasem in East Legon.

Read also: Trotro driver runs over policeman to avoid arrest

When Graphic Online’s Jennifer Kwasin went to the accident scene, the police had initiated investigations.

The minibus which killed the officer, a Ford Transit bus with registration number GR 4880-20, had been towed to the Legon Police Station as part of the investigations.

The Station Officer at the Legon Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate (MTTD), Chief Inspector Abraham Nuetey told Graphic Online’s Jennifer Kwasin that two policemen from the Madina MTTD, pursued the driver of the Ford vehicle from the main Legon-Madina road and eventually caught up with him on the Trinity Theological Seminary route.

He said the two policemen got out of their vehicle and tried to stop the driver from moving his vehicle further, the driver in an attempt to drive away, hit the police officer and as he tried to drive away, dragged the knocked down officer under the vehicle.

Chief Inspector Nuetey said Sergeant Appiah was dragged for 54.50 metres under the Ford bus when measurements were taken.

He said the badly injured policeman was rushed to the 37 Military Hospital for emergency treatment but he was confirmed dead around 10am.

Following that the body was taken to the Police Hospital Mortuary.

He commended Mr David Odonkor who chased the driver and caused him to abandon his car and abscond, explaining that the abandoned vehicle which was now in the custody of the police, would be very useful for further investigations to arrest the driver who had killed the police officer.

Eyewitness account

An eyewitness who gave her name only as Akosua and spoke to Graphic Online’s Jennifer Kwasin described the incident as an eyesore as she could not put herself together when the policeman was dragged under the bus.

The visibly shaken Akosua said she saw the police vehicle stop the “trotro” driver on the road and the policemen asked the driver to come out of it, but he refused and started arguing with them.

“Before we realised, he tried to drive the bus in reverse, and without realising it, hit the policeman who was in the front of the car, dragged him under the car for a while and drove away”, she stated.

“One of my neighbours tried to pursue him (trotro driver) but he left his car and fled into the bush before anyone could get hold of him”, she added.

Akosua told Graphic Online that an Uber driver, who was within the area, came over to help convey the injured policeman to the 37 Military hospital for treatment while

Mr Odonkor, who earlier pursued the Ford driver, went to report the incident at the Legon Police Station.

Accident scene

When Graphic Online visited the scene, there was indication that the accident had happened not too long ago as there were fresh blood stains on the road where the incident occurred.

The portion of the road, where the police officer was dragged had been marked by the Police as part of their preliminary investigations.

Also, some people had gathered not too far away from the scene, still talking about it.

Read also: Trotro driver runs over policeman to avoid arrest

Writer's email: enoch.frimpong@graphic.com.gh 

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