The youth of New Abirem in the Eastern Region, on Saturday, October 12th, 2024 apprehended 20 illegal miners (galamseyers) in the community.
The 20 arrested were made up of 18 Ghanaians and 2 Chinese nationals.
With the rising incidents of galamsey in the area, the youth decided to form the Kotoku Environmental Protection taskforce to fight the galamsey menace in the area, and protect their community’s land and water resources.
The vigilant youth, saw some excavators being transported within the community and managed to track them down to an area called Roman Missionary Down in the community where they arrested the culprits and seized the excavators.
According to information gathered, the District Chief Executive (DCE) and one chief in the community are the ones funding and supporting these illegal miners.
They revealed the two tried to interfere with the arrest and free the culprits and machinery, but the youth stood their grounds and handed the 20 galamseyers to the police.
The youth have called on government to thoroughly investigate the matter and remove the DCE from office for his involvement in galamsey.
Video:
20 Illegal Miners (Galamseyers) Arrested at New Abirem#UTVGhana pic.twitter.com/aOW8DBUyWO
— UTV Ghana (@utvghana) October 14, 2024
