“I asked him why he did what he did, and if he knew it could end him in jail. He said nothing can be done about it because he is a CID officer and he is the law himself so nothing can be done to him and that I was really talking nonsense”, these are the words of a 22-year old lady who went through the unfortunate experience of being raped by a policeman.
Abena (not real name), was abducted by a policeman on her way home from work. The officer, Corporal Sampson Kevin Edem, with the Airport Police Division, apparently carried out this action to ‘teach’ Abena a ‘lesson’ after she refused to accept his proposal and heed to his advances.
Narrating her ordeal in an interview with GHOne tv, Abena said “I closed from work that day and was going home. Before, he had proposed to me several times and I turned it down because of what I heard people saying about him and all that. My mother even advised me because of those issues. He went like why would he propose to me and I wouldn’t respond to him, no one has ever rejected or turned his proposal down and then I said, I’m not like all those girls, I’m different”.
She recounted being forced into the car which was open on her way back from work and being forced to keep quiet by an accomplice in the car with the policeman.
On arrival, at the Madina Reco flat she explained, “He opened the door and said I should sit down and I said I won’t. I was standing and then he pushed me and my head hit the wall and I felt a sharp pain. I don’t know what happened again but when I opened my eyes, I was on his bed and I was naked and I asked him what had happened but already I felt some sharp pain and I realized I was naked so he had had sex with me”.
Abena, has not been able to overcome the trauma she faced since the dreadful incident and she may just be considering that the words of the policeman “I’m the law myself, nothing will be done to me” may have been true after all because efforts to deal with the issue and bring the man involved to book have proved futile.
The matter which was reported to the Madina branch of DOVVSU and the CID headquarters in Accra, is yet to receive any response.
This may not be the only incident where a police officer, in his capacity as a law enforcer, has engaged in wrongdoing or a criminal offence. There have been reports in the past where police officers have been engaged in robbery events and or have connived with armed robbers to carry out operations. There’ve also been incidents where policemen have been engaged in wrongful activities including the sale of hard drugs.
This raises a lot of questions particularly in the minds of the ordinary citizen who looks to the police service for defence and shield from wrong doers and criminals. How safe are we as a country, as a people, if the very same institutions set up to protect citizens are abusing the power given to them.