20 illegal miners have been arrested at New Abirem in the Eastern Region around the Roman missionary by the youth in the area.
The 20 illegal miners made up of eighteen Ghanaians and two Chinese were arrested by the youth on Saturday, October 12, 2024.
In a video shared by UTV Ghana, some of the eighteen illegal miners were seen kneeling with some sitting on the floor, while the two Chinese galamseyers were seated comfortably on a plastic chair.
The 20 galamseyers were arrested by the Youth of New Abirem calling themselves Kokoku Environmental Protection Taskforce and have been taken to the police station together with their excavators despite intervention from the chief of the area and the DCE.
The youth group has indicated they are not going to allow galamsey in their area.
Kokoku Environmental Protection Taskforce further noted that the DCE together with a chief were involved and called on the Police Service to call them in for questioning.
Meanwhile, in a press statement dated October 9, 2024, President Akufo-Addo directed the Minister for Defense to deploy additional military forces to intensify the ongoing “Operation Halt”, which aims to curb illegal mining activities.
President Akufo-Addo expressed his commitment to end illegal mining and called on all Ghanaians to unite in the fight.
Watched the video below:
If the status quo remains Ghana will become a failed state – Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson#HotIssues #3NewsGH pic.twitter.com/Ppn8xw4s5w
— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) October 13, 2024