The three soldiers arrested by some residents of Tarkwa in the Western Region for allegedly extorting monies from them, are not members of government’s Operation Vanguard Task-force, according to the Ghana Armed Forces.
The Director of Public Relations of the Armed Forces, Lt. Colonel Eric Aggrey Quarshie, who said this, explained that, the three were rather “men from the Air-force base in Takoradi.”
[contextly_sidebar id=”7HUifSi0caVR7MDeqxh1mJHYzIaJElLG”]The three, namely; AC2 Oliviete Solomon with service No.207333, AC2 Agantwuo Agana, No. 207323, and Joseph Osei Abraham, No. 207356 AC2, were handed over to the Tarkwa Divisional Police Command, by residents who arrested them.
The soldiers on board a taxicab on Saturday evening, are said to have gone to Aboso, a mining community in the Tarkwa-Nsauem Municipality, and combed around gold buying shops, where they extorted both cash and gold from unsuspecting dealers.
Members of the Aboso community, who were suspicious of the operations of the soldiers, raised an alarm, mobilized and arrested them.
The soldiers were taken to the Aboso Police Station and later handed over to the Tarkwa Divisional Police Command.
Reports from Tarkwa had suggested that, the soldiers admitted the offence upon interrogation by their senior officers from the Operation Vanguard task-force, which is on a national assignment to help government root out illegal mining also known as galamsey.
Lt. Colonel Quarshie indicated that, military authorities are lasing with the Police in the area to get to the bottom of the matter.
He said the three will be sanctioned if it comes to the fore that “they have contravened the regulations.”
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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana