The Police in Bawku have arrested 15 people in Zogoyire a suburb of Bawku West for vandalizing equipment belonging to a gold mining company in the area; Rich Power mining Ghana Limited.
The arrests by the Police subsequently angered another group which launched a second attack on the mining company this morning [Tuesday] and held some relatives of some employees hostage.
[contextly_sidebar id=”w7Efx1oU7Zb5JveEpOdvLU1tNaitnFvN”]The Bawku Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Lovelace Kaledzi Tefutor said the Police is still keeping an eye on the situation.
“We have heard of another reprisal attacks. I am just from the scene and I am even in a car going back to Bawku now. The village has been deserted and another tanker has been burnt down. The Chinese have packed their things and have moved to Bolga so as I speak now, almost all the Chinese are in Bolga now,” Superintendent Tefutor said.
He stated that “the father and an uncle of one of them [employees] were kidnapped. They [Police] have gone there to release them and they are on their way back.”
The Police believe the action by the youth is to register their anger at their decision to prevent them from undertaking their illegal gold mining (galamsey) activities.
The youth are also protesting the handing over of some mining concessions by a Chinese mining company.
Meanwhile the Public Relations Officer for rhe Rich Power Mining Ghana Limited, Maxwell Wooma has revealed that over $5 million has been lost as a result of the attack.
“On the 4th of July, workers at the mining firm got rumours that some person who had written a petition to the Regional Minister ostensibly to stop our work had gone ahead to gather at one place in the community strategizing as to how to burn down equipment,” he recalled.
Mr Wooma said employees reported to the Police but no action was taken.
“When we reported to the Police, we were expecting that the Police in the district and other areas like the Divisional Command would have gathered our equipment throughout to assist that of our own company security. We are quite unhappy that this has not taken course, the rumour was treated lightly.”
He said the mining firm has decided to “temporarily disengage” workers and also ask the expatriates working on the site to return to China until normalcy returns.
This incident follows a similar that one that occurred at Bimbilla in the Northern region.
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By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana