A/R: Illegal miners arrested; equipment seized

Three illegal miners have been arrested by the Asokwa District Police at Nweneso in the Atwima Kwanwoma District of the Ashanti Region. They were arrested after the District Chief Executive for Atwima Kwanwoma, Nana Okyere, and the police stormed the place upon intelligence. One of the suspects was arrested with one pump action gun and seven BB live cartridges while one other suspect, dressed in a polo T-shirt with a police symbol boldly embossed at the front and back, claimed to be a Community Policing Assistant at Hwidiem. About fifteen excavators, chanfan machines, water pumping machines, among other mining equipment were confiscated during the operation. Speaking in an interview with www/3news.com, the Atwima Kwanwoma District Chief Executive, Nana Okyere ,warned Ghanaians, particularly illegal miners, to respect the ban on galamsey. He dispelled allegations that he was fueling illegal mining activities in the District. “If I have a hand in it, how can I bring policemen to arrest them,” he said. “That is why I’m saying that people should be careful on how they speculate because as a DCE, I represent the president here. I cannot allow an illegality to continue once the president has said it is illegal. “Majority of them were able to run away because they had a tip-off from the residents in the community about their operation. We managed to arrest three of them including their excavators. The fight against illegal mining is still on course and we will fight till we win,” he said. The three illegal miners are currently in police custody. The Asokwa District Police Commander, Chief Superintendent James Annor, who led the operation told www.3news.com that, “We had three suspects on the site and you will agree with me that majority of them heard about our coming and we don’t know how the information got to them, and so, most of them vanished before we got to the various sites”. Ten galamsey sites, he said, were identified within the community where galamsey activities have been going on irrespective of the ban. By Benjamin Aidoo|3news.com|Ghana Follow @3Newsgh]]>