Some angry residents have attacked the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Atwima Mponua and some officers of the Ghana Police Service, following the burning of three excavators believed to be used for galamsey by unknown soldiers.
Angelonline.com.gh reported that a 10-bedroom house and three excavators have been set ablaze in the early hours of Wednesday February 23, 2022, at Nkawie Ntobro in the Nyinahini District.
An eye-witness account by one Isaac Osei, on Angel FM’s Anopa Bofo Morning Show, said some alleged soldiers who invaded the house without any engagement with its occupants, poured diesel in and around the house and set it on fire.
The action of the military men infuriated the residents who, in a reprisal, attacked the DCE of the area accusing him of deploying the soldiers into the town to stop galamsey operations.
The residents damaged a vehicle belonging to the police service during the attack.
However, the DCE, who comdemed the attack by residents, has denied knowledge of the military deployment to clamp down on galamsey operations.
Officers from the Central Command of the Ghana Armed Forces are currently in the area as part of the second phase of Operation Halt’s deployment against illegal mining activities.
It is also reported that the residents attempted stopping soldiers who were redeployed into the area to foil galamsey activities within the area by mounting roadblocks.
