I was trying to get a trotro at Ebony bus stop. I was sipping a soft drink while waiting for the troski. Some prisoners were weeding along the pavements of the road like we sometimes see on some of our major streets.
Suddenly, one of them approached me and asked for some money. I intentionally told him I did not have enough funds on me. Then he said I should give him my drink. I told him I couldn't do that, so he returned to continue weeding. I then went to one of the prison officers to ask if I could buy some drinks for them and she said yes.
Quickly I got some soft drinks from the nearby shop and handed it over to the officer to share it. I was by her when she started sharing it.
One particular guy was shying away from me, which aroused my curiosity, so I decided to get closer to him.
I got to him only to find out he was my classmate at Kaneshie Bishop 2 JHS.
He dropped out from JHS 2 and that was the last time I saw him. I heard he had moved back to his village.
 The first thing he said was "I saw you the other time on TV with Berla Mundi. I told the other prison mates you were my classmate but they didn't believe me. Pawpaw you have grown oooo, and you are still funny." My mates nicknamed me Pawpaw after the popular Nigerian actor. I chose not to ask him, how he ended up in this situation because I didn't want to sound judgmental but I told him I would visit him for us to talk.
I requested the officer's number to chat with her about my friend. I had watched a TV program where a noble gentleman helps to release prisoners after paying their fine. My only prayer was that my friend's crime wouldn't be a serious case like murder or rape. Later on, I called the officer on the phone and found out that my classmate had threatened someone and was fined 600gh or serve a jail term, which he was not able to settle, and that's how he was sentenced to almost 2 years imprisonment.
I asked if I could pay the fine for him to be released, and she said yes. I plan to pay the fine for my friend and the guy who first approached me whose fine is 300gh, But yesterday I decided to get them some refreshments. God dey we dey. I will update you guys soon. once I'm able to help release them plus three more people.
(Shared by Bubuashie Kevinhart on the TroTro Diaries group)
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