Some 29 foreign nationals are in the grips of the Eastern Regional Rapid Response team of the Forestry Commission, for invading the Atiwa Rain Forest reserve and mining illegally.
The suspects, who are believed to be from Togo and other neighboring countries, are said to have been operating in the Atiwa Rain Forest Reserve for about two months using sophisticated machines to detect the presence of gold and mining them illegally mining it.
They were arrested on Thursday [January 26] for the illegal activity that has destroyed the forest reserve.
The Eastern Regional Manager of the Forestry Commission, Attah Owusu , said they received information about the illegal activity and quickly mobilized a joint force including military and police personnel to clamp down on the operations.
“…Because of the potential of having minerals, we have some ancient trenches that people search for gold from. We had information that some other nationals, have made incursions into some portions of the reserve. We got the information and mobilized a rapid response team comprising soldiers, policemen and forestry officers. Yesterday [Thursday] at dawn, we were able to round up some people and from their accent, you can tell they are from Togo and other neighboring countries like Burkina Faso and Mali.”
Confirming the incident to Citi News, the Public Relations Officer for the Ghana Police Service in the Eastern Region, ASP Nketiah-Yeboah, alleged that the foreigners had connived with some locals to carry out the illegal act.
Ghana has failed to effectively deal with illegal mining among locals, as well as among foreign nationals such as the Chinese, who are often arrested, and later left off the hook.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
