A police operation aimed at clamping down on the illegal mining activities in the Offin Shelter Belt Forest Reserve at Anwiafutu near Nyinahin, Ashanti region, turned violent, leaving four people with varying degrees of injury.
Joynews’ Assisting Editor, Ohemeng Tawiah, embedded with the police team, was among those injured by a mob of illegal miners.
Tawiah was following up on a previous story he did regarding the illegal mining operations of Clean Jobs Resources Limited.
He sustained head and chest injuries, twisted fingers, and multiple cuts on his body after surviving a machete attack, in what appeared to be an attempt to sever his right leg.
The mob also seized the team’s camera, mobile phones, power bank, Bluetooth device, money, lenses, and other personal belongings, and damaged two minibuses used by the team.
The police team, which included media personnel and excavator mechanics and operators from the Ashanti Regional Police Headquarters in Kumasi, raided the mining site of Clean Jobs Resources Limited around 9 a.m. on Friday, December 20, 2024.
The team initially arrested security personnel dressed in military camouflage to pave the way for the operation.
However, by the time the police team entered the mining site, the suspected illegal miners—comprising Chinese and local collaborators—had already fled, having been tipped off. They left behind their gold washers and generators.
Several hectares of the once-pristine Offin Shelter Belt Forest Reserve had been destroyed due to illegal mining activities. Deep trenches were freshly dug, and heaps of sand believed to contain precious minerals were being washed.
At least eight washing machines, actively engaged in washing, were spotted on-site, a clear sign of ongoing mining operations. The site had been contracted to reclaim the mined forest reserve.
As the police team continued their search for illegal miners, reports surfaced that the miners, with the support of the youth from Anwiafutu, had erected a barricade at the only entrance to the site.
The agitated miners, now reinforced by additional security, led by individuals identified as Alhassan and Commander Adu, demanded that the police release the arrested illegal miners, along with seized items such as pump-action guns and mobile phones.
Additionally, the miners requested that the Joynews team’s camera and footage be returned. Tensions escalated when the miners began throwing stones at the minibuses, smashing their windows.
Soon, another group of armed individuals, dressed in military camouflage, arrived at the scene to support the illegal miners. Led by someone identified as W.O., this group ordered that no vehicles be allowed to leave the site.
A unit committee member of Anwiafutu intervened, helping to rescue the news team and place them in a waiting police pickup. However, the miners pursued and attacked Ohemeng Tawiah, using pump-action guns, machetes, and stones while frisking him for money and mobile phones as he fell to the ground.
The police pickup successfully transported the team and some injured excavator operators to Adobewora Junction, where they continued their journey to Kumasi for medical treatment.
Ohemeng Tawiah arrived at a health facility in Kumasi weak and bleeding profusely from head injuries. He was rushed to the operating theater while still in his blood-soaked clothes for stabilization and surgery.
Joynews investigations have revealed that Clean Jobs Resources Limited had obtained an entry permit from the Forestry Commission to undertake reclamation and afforestation work in the Offin Shelter Belt, an area previously free from illegal mining activities.
However, the company has been involved in illegal mining, violating the terms of its entry permit.
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