Award-winning environmental journalist of the Multimedia Group, Erastus Asare Donkor, has issued a call for justice and the return of valuable equipment after he and his team were brutally assaulted by armed men while investigating illegal mining (Galamsey) at Asumenya in the Ashanti Region.
The attack occurred on Sunday, October 20 as the journalists documented environmental destruction attributed to Edelmetallum Mining Resources Limited.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Newsfile on Saturday, Mr Donkor urged authorities to ensure justice and recover essential items confiscated by their assailants.
“We are looking for justice. Secondly, we want our items returned,” he said.
“Those drone batteries, the tablets, are very expensive for common journalists like us. We bought them with our own money, and we need them back,” he told the host, Samson Lardy Anyenini.
According to him, the team was confronted by armed men while filming farmlands and water bodies ravaged by illegal mining.
The attackers, allegedly protecting Edelmetallum Mining’s operations, seized the journalists and their equipment at gunpoint, before transporting them to a remote forest location.
There, the journalists endured a violent assault, sustaining injuries, including swollen eyes and ear trauma, before the assailants deleted all collected footage and abandoned the team.
The journalists later reported the incident at the Manso Edubia Police Station and sought medical treatment at Agroyesum Hospital.
Their attackers claimed to be acting on orders from the mining company’s owner, according to the team’s report.
Despite the ordeal, Mr Donkor emphasised his team’s commitment to reporting on critical environmental issues, acknowledging the high costs of equipment such as drones, which they currently rent.
He stressed the need for strengthened security measures, stating, “We only have to be more careful… but definitely, it’s not a job that we intend to quit.” Meanwhile, the case is currently under police investigation after three people were arrested.