Ten individuals, including two law enforcement officers, have been apprehended by the Rapid Response Unit of the Forestry Commission in the Juaboso District of the Western North Region. The group comprises four Chinese nationals—Men Shi Yu (30), Wen Yong Cheng (30), Wen Fu Lin (58), and Lee Pin (60) along with their Ghanaian collaborators, namely Edward Owusu (25), Kwesi Frank (42), Abudu Dramani (41), and Joe Naburi (27). The two arrested police officers are Detective Sergeant Yahaya Andrews and Lance Corporal Azantillow, who were allegedly safeguarding a mining site within the forest reserve.
During interrogation, Detective Sergeant Yahaya Andrews claimed that Chief Inspector Adusei Negga had instructed them to patrol the Kokosua Forest Reserve near Asempaneye, where their station is located. The joint operation conducted on Tuesday, December 12, by the Rapid Response Unit and the District Forest Management of Juaboso also resulted in the incineration of 10 excavators utilized by the miners.
The Krokosua Forest Reserve has faced encroachment from illegal miners, causing substantial damage. This arrest follows the Forestry Commission’s recent efforts to eradicate illicit mining in forest reserves nationwide.
On November 29, 2023, the Rapid Response Unit conducted a similar operation in the Anwiaso East Forest Reserve, targeting illegal miners using heavy machinery to destroy the forest cover and contaminate water bodies near Diaso in the Bibiani Forest District of the Western North Region. Ten illegal miners were detained in that operation, during which two excavators and two heavy-duty electrical plants were destroyed at the illegal mining site, with the suspects handed over to the Dunkwa Police.
Samuel Darko-Akonor, the Coordinator of the Rapid Response Unit at the Forestry Commission Headquarters, issued a stern warning to individuals engaging in mining activities within forest reserves, urging them to cease such criminal actions.
“The unit is ever prepared to carry the fight to them to save our forest and our water bodies,” he said.
The Executive Director of the Forest Services Division of the Forestry Commission stated this to Ghana360news, “The war on illegal mining within forest reserves continues unabated. We need the support of all, including our military, police, judiciary, media and civil society to effectively deal with this existential threat. This war must be won.”
Source: Ghana360news.com
