News about the fatalities following the firing of live ammunition by personnel of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) taskforce is worrying.
Human lives have been lost, very young persons for that matter, and others seriously injured. One person is said to have been amputated and would certainly not be able to function normally; now a liability for his family.
We do not expect an anti-illegal mining operation to result in such loss of lives and injuries, especially considering the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Also disturbing is the fact that the relationship between the community which suffered the fatality and the NAIMOS would be expectedly scathed and could explode at the least provocation.
The bottom-line is that excavators were being transferred from a galamsey infested location to a safe-keeping point in a manner which was destructive to the road. The youth and others objected, resulting in stone-throwing at the security personnel, who responded with live fire.
The subject under review is delicate, especially as it is about the loss of lives as noted in a preceding paragraph.
Although the assignment on the hands of the security personnel is intended to protect our environment, water bodies and forests from the dangerous occupation of illegal miners, the use of live ammo under any circumstances should be a matter governed by a laid down standard or operational orders, especially in a situation which is far from being a standard war zone.
Perhaps the soldiers have been ordered to shoot and kill when they come under attack, something illegal miners should be informed about so they would be guided in their pastime.
It is tiring and cumbersome performing life-threatening operations such as stopping a money-making illegality such as galamsey. In fact, it is a life and death mission because the illegal miners are armed and ready to kill.
Unfortunately, the NAIMOS will not be able to win the so-called war against galamsey because they are not on the same page as the government. The Commander-in-Chief must reverse his previous assurance to illegal miners that when he assumes power, they should go and mine.
To shoot and kill when such conflicting orders prevail is regrettable.
Given the narrations related to the subject under review, we are compelled to demand that a probe be instituted with a view to identifying lapses, if any, in the anti-galamsey operations to save lives of both soldiers and civilians in the operational areas.
This won’t be the last time that communities would disagree with NAIMOS, and the resultant outcomes are just too glaring.
An inquiry would enable the authorities to determine whether for instance the movement of the excavators was done wrongly or not. Could the soldiers have resorted to an alternative action rather the use of live ammo?
The statement from NAIMOS following the incident should assuage the pain of the community whose chief also suffered brutalities.