[ 2016-11-18 ]

Galamsey crossfire: Locals say 11 bodies found
Locals in Asamama say contrary to earlier reports
that three people died from Thursday’s crossfire
between illegal small-scale miners (galamseyers)
and the police, they have found as many as 11
bodies following the gun battle.

The police are, however, yet to confirm the number
of people who died from the crossfire.

Meanwhile, uneasy calm has returned to the mining
community in the Atiwa district of the Eastern
Region.

The Eastern Regional Security Council (REGSEC),
headed by regional minister, Mavis Ama Frimpong,
is set to hold a meeting soon as investigations
into the incident begins.

Meanwhile, irate youth of Asamama on Friday
morning besieged the home of the queenmother of
the area baying for her blood.

Accra100.5FM’s Eastern regional correspondent
Kofi Michel told Chief Jerry Forson on the
station’s breakfast show on Friday, 18 November
that the angry youth were accusing the queenmother
of preventing the teeming jobless youth from
undertaking mining activities while
discriminatorily granting a concession to just one
prominent businessman in the area to undertake
mining activities.

The queenmother, the businessman and their allies,
according to the angry residents, always resort to
armed land guards and police officers to suppress
other locals from doing any mining activities in
the area.

They blame the queenmother’s discriminatory
actions for Thursday’s gun battle. More than 20
of the galamseyers were arrested by the police
after the crossfire which started as law officers
who were part of the anti-galamsey taskforce got
intelligence of illegal mining activities taking
place at Asamama.

The police were tipped off by residents after huge
earthmoving vehicles and excavators surged into
the area.

The heavy machines destroyed swathes of cocoa
farms and traversed rivers en route to their
destination.

As the taskforce swooped in on the illegal miners,
they were met with brute gun fire by the
galamseyers.

Chief of Staff Julius Debrah has ordered the
military to reinforce security in the area.

Source - Classfmonline

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