Military Officers Whip Tarkwa-Nsuaem Teachers
Some teachers of Adiewoso Basic School in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality of the Western Region were subjected to severe beatings and other forms of molestation by some men believed to be military officers.
The incident, which occurred on Thursday, April 30, 2026, left the teachers traumatised by the action of the supposed military men.
According to the Wassa West District branch of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, the purported military men stormed the area on the invitation of a rubber processing company which has its operations in the area.
They were said to have been invited to stop illegal miners or ‘galamseyers’ in the town from mining on the rubber plantation of the processing company, which is very close to the town.
The action by the soldiers resulted in a confrontation between them and the “galamseyers”. The soldiers therefore left for their barracks after the banter.
However, unknown to the residents of Adiewoso, the said military men stormed the town in the early hours of Thursday and subjected the residents, especially the males, to severe beatings.
Unfortunately, the abuse was extended to three teachers of Adiewoso M/A Basic School, including the headteacher and the husband of one of the female teachers in the school who had gone there to visit his wife.
Addressing journalists on the incident, the Wassa West District Vice Chairman of GNAT, Daniel Mensah, said the teachers did all that they could to let the military men know that they were not part of the “galamseyers” by showing their GNAT membership identity cards to them.
He said the soldiers ignored them and remarked: “You teachers should rather advise the town folks not to do galamsey in the rubber plantation. This is nonsense.”
Mr. Mensah noted that the military men ordered the teachers to lie on the floor and whipped them, resulting in injuries on their backs and other parts of their bodies.
“They were also threatened of being shot if they resisted. Upon hearing of the incident, the district secretariat of GNAT, Tarkwa, reached out to the affected teachers on phone to confirm the incident,” he added.
He indicated that subsequently, the affected teachers reported the case to the Abura police station, took medical forms and went to the clinic in Abura for medical attention.
“We see the action by the soldiers as very unfortunate, inhumane and barbaric. Why must everybody in the town suffer unjustly due to the fact that some people have already provoked the military?
“We resolve that if within two weeks, leadership of GNAT does not hear favourably from the Regional Security Council, Management of the rubber processing company and Ghana Education Service (GES), the Association will advise itself,” he pointed out.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi