Galamsey: Slum dwellers at Abrewa Ne Nkran area were from Mali, Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, others – Forestry Commission

The Western Regional Manager, Forestry Commission, Nana Poku Bosompim, has revealed that the slum dwellers within the Abrewa Ne Nkran area in the Western region were from Niger, Malians, Nigerians, B Faso, Togo, Cote Divoir.

He said interactions with them showed where they came from.

“Niger, Malians, Nigerians, B Faso, Togo, Cote Divoir. we interacted with them and they told us where they were coming from, aside that there were a lot of people from Ghana,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday April 19.

He added “The arrested slum dwellers within the Abrewa Ne Nkran area in the Western region had set up an independent Power supply system to run their illegal mining business. We saw evidence of human trafficking and drug abuse in the area during our raid.”

A joint team from the Forestry Commission in the Western Region and the Armed Forces stormed Abrewa Ninkrane, a notorious galamsey enclave across the Subri Forest Reserve.

The raid which occurred on Tuesday, April 15 dawn saw the task force set ablaze several makeshift camps used by illegal miners, many of whom are believed to be foreign nationals from Nigeria, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.

The move forms part of the effort to protect the Subri Forest Reserves from further destruction.

The Subri Forest Reserve had recently become a hotspot for illegal mining activities, rendering hundreds hectors of vegetation cover destroyed.

Nana Kwabena Bosompim, Western Regional Forestry Manager, in an interview after the operation, stated that the illegal miners had constructed fully functional hubs, including wooden brothels and makeshift shelters that served both as living spaces and business centres.

He cautioned illegal miners to desist from engaging in mining in reserved areas and water bodies or face the law.

He said the task force will be based in the community for the next two weeks to ensure that illegal miners do not return to the site.

“We are told young girls nowadays do not even want to go to school; they want to be here to make money from the prostitution business, and that is very bad. When we were coming, we estimated to meet 2000 miners, but today when we came here in the morning, we estimated more than 10,000 and we could not affect arrest because the number of people we are going to arrest will not even fit in our vehicle.

“We just had to raid the community and burn down the equipment and make sure everybody is flushed out. We are going to be here for the next two weeks and will make sure every illegal miner is raided from this community.

 

 

 

 

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