By Nana Yaw Prekoh
Copyright ghanaguardian
A driver at the Abomosu STEM Senior High School (SHS) was allegedly assaulted by three Immigration Service officers at a checkpoint in Kwabeng in the Atiwa West District of the Eastern Region while on official duty transporting sensitive West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) materials.
The incident, which occurred on Thursday, September 4, 2025, has raised serious concerns about professionalism among security agencies and the handling of critical national examinations.
The Assignment
The school driver, whose name is being withheld, was dispatched alongside the Assistant Headmaster (Academics), the school’s accountant, and a police officer assigned to provide security for the WASSCE papers.
Their mission was to pick up the examination papers from Kwabeng Anglican Senior High Technical School for onward delivery to Abomosu STEM SHS.
They were driving in an official vehicle with registration number GV 738-21, which bore a clear sticker reading “Urgent WASSCE 2025”.
The presence of a police officer in the vehicle was meant to give additional credibility and protection to the transport of such sensitive materials.
The Confrontation
According to the driver’s account, at exactly 8:20 a.m., the Immigration Service checkpoint at Kwabeng became the scene of chaos.
The officers had stopped another vehicle in front, forcing the WASSCE convoy to bypass it in order not to delay the delivery of the papers.
That action allegedly infuriated the officers on duty.
The Inspector in charge and two other Immigration officers approached the school vehicle “in a hostile manner.” Despite explanations from the driver that the vehicle carried WASSCE papers and a police escort, the Inspector reportedly retorted dismissively, “So what?”
Witnesses claim both the policewoman in the vehicle and the Assistant Headmaster tried to intervene, but the officers continued their verbal abuse.
Matters escalated when the Inspector allegedly yanked open the driver’s door and began punching him repeatedly while he was still strapped in his seat belt.
The two other officers joined in, assaulting the driver until colleagues eventually pulled the Inspector aside.
“I had blood in my mouth from cuts to my lips,” the driver later recounted, adding that when he tried to step out of the vehicle, the officers pushed him back inside, warning: “You cannot do anything here, so sit down.”
The incident forced the convoy to divert to the Kwabeng Police Station, where the driver was issued a medical form.
He was later treated at the Abomosu Health Centre, where a senior physician assistant confirmed the assault injuries.
The confrontation delayed the delivery of examination papers from Kwabeng, forcing students to begin their exams later than scheduled.
For an exam process that is already under pressure nationwide, such delays risk undermining the credibility and smooth running of the WASSCE.
