Court remands 5 illegal miners

THE BEKWAI Circuit Court, in the Ashanti Region, has remanded five suspected illegal miners into prison custody for two weeks.

The court also ordered that the five suspects should be kept at the Kumasi Central Prisons until they re-appear before the court.

It emerged in court that some specially trained divers of the Amansie South District Security Council (DISEC) arrested the five male suspects.

The suspects, who reportedly claimed to hail from Atebubu, were arrested at the Manso Keniago portion of the Offin river.

The five people were seen with some locally made washing equipment and power generators, busily searching for gold in the river.

Meanwhile, the Amansie South District Chief Executive (DCE), Clement Opoku Gyamfi, lauded the arrest of the five people.

He said DISEC has intensified measures to “clampdown on activities of illegal mining in water bodies and forest reserves in the area”.

Addressing journalists, the DCE vowed that the assembly would do its utnost best to flush out illegal miners from the district.

He announced that about 30 illegal miners have been apprehended in the district in recent times.

He lauded the Minerals Commission, Forestry Commission and the National Disaster Management Organisation, (NADMO) for their support in dealing with illegal mining in the district.

“I must confess these illegal miners have been giving us a hell of a time but with our renewed focus we will use every legal and ruthless force to chase them out from water bodies and forest reserves in this district”.

Meanwhile, two other illegal miners were also nabbed mining on a water body at Manso Adubia on Monday. They would be arraigned soon.