The suspects
TWENTY-NINE suspected illegal miners believed to be nationals of Mali, Nigeria and Niger, among other countries, have been arrested at Akyem-Ahwenase in the Atiwa District of the Eastern Region for allegedly destroying the Atiwa Rain Forest Reserve.
The Thursday swoop by the Eastern Regional monitoring team of the Forestry Commission managed to arrest the 29 foreign nationals who had reportedly invaded the forest reserve to engage in illegal mining.
The suspects, currently in the police custody, are said to have been in the forest reserve for over two months now and use sophisticated equipment to detect and mine gold illegally, destroying about five hectares or the forest.
The Eastern Regional Director of the Forestry Commission, Attah Owusu, confirmed to DAILY GUIDE that the operation was based on a tip-off by a vigilant community member of Akyem-Kwabeng.
According to the commission’s boss, “The suspects are armed to the teeth and if you are not careful you can run into them and they will attack you. We caught them red-handed and brought them to the Eastern Regional police command for the law to deal with them.”
He urged residents to help the commission to protect natural reserves for a sustainable development.
The Atiwa Forest range is the watershed of three river systems – Ayensu, Densu and Birim. A good number of the nation’s population depends on these water sources.
FROM Daniel Bampoe, Akyem – Ahwenase