He said the anti-galamsey team retrieved 58 different firearms indicating that the illegal miners had become sophisticated.

[contextly_sidebar id=”8B6qfRomT2h9mbNbpbe73ZwaZTV0ayaM”]In an interview with Citi News, Col. Agyapong said, the situation is worrying, and there was the need for stakeholders to find a way to address it before it gets out of hands.

“One striking thing is the number of arms, weapons we came across. We came across as many of 58 different types of weapons. Pistols, single and double barrels, pump action guns both locally made and foreign ones. As a military personnel, it is worry that plying a simple trade like mining will have people come on board with weapons. It is a very worrying situation that we need to look at it because we don’t know the number of weapons that are still in the hands of people,” he said.

Punishment for ‘galamseyers’ too weak – Operation Vanguard commander

Col. Agyapong further expressed worry about the weight of punishment meted out to illegal miners after they have been arrested by the anti-galamsey task-force.

According to him, the sentences given by the judiciary to the suspects were not deterrent enough, and was a major disincentive to the fight against illegal mining in the country.

“Government has done a lot but we will need more. The kind of sentences and fines that come out of the arrest are not helpful. We know that the onus is on the prosecution to prove somebody guilty, but if you know what we go through and after everything the sentencing and the fines are not so deterrent…. If you fine somebody who is involved in small-scale illegal mining and you fine him GH¢1,000 or GH¢2,000, I think that it will not be deterrent enough. He will not see why he should not go back to the land. These are worrying issues that I hope that in due course, they are tackled by the appropriate authority,” he said.

The deployment of the joint police and military task-force came as a major boost to government’s fight against illegal mining in the country, following news of its devastating effects on the country’s land and water resources.

Government placed a six-month ban on all forms of mining until further notice, but later extended the ban to January 2018, because the needed result has not been achieved.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Use of weapons by ‘galamseyers’ troubling – Operation Vanguard Commander appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The teams have so far arrested over 100 illegal miners in Eastern, Western and Ashanti regions since they began their work some two weeks ago.

The National Deputy Commander of Operation Vanguard,Chief Superintendent Abraham Acquaye , told Citi News that “ there are extreme provocations sometimes because when some of them see you, they want to fight back, they will tell you that it’s their source of livelihood and therefore they are prepared to sacrifice their life.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”Yky5oCqz5kNSHKQaUBSb0OJ7wSOb2kOk”]He however mentioned their threat analysis show that there aren’t any significant threats from the illegal miners.

“We also appreciate the fundamental rights of the miners so we have sent strong worded signals to the task force that they should exercise restraint in the face of provocation, we have spoken against torture and unwanted destruction of property.”

“Our mandate is to stop the activity so we are using other diplomatic means of stopping the opposition from the miners.”

Approach work in civilized manner

The National Peace Council (NPC) has however urged the task-force to tackle their work in a civilized manner.

Rev. Dr. Nii Amoo Darku who is a member of the NPC stated that “we are witnesses of how devastating the practice of galamsey has been destroying our farmlands and river bodies and therefore we are pleading with the government and stakeholders involved would be magnanimous in dealing with it.”

He added that “we do not want to see a situation where people are killed because we want to curb it, when that happens, people would want to fight back.”

“Therefore those who have been asked to deal with the situation must do it with a Human Face so that there wouldn’t be a situation where lives would be lost and properties destroyed as we are hearing.”

This comes after government’s anti-illegal mining task-force, Operation Vanguard said that they will not hesitate to defend themselves if they are attacked by illegal small- scale miners.

The Public Relations Officer of the task force, Major Gariba Pabi who spoke to Citi News a few days back, that any attack on them will be considered as an insult to the fight against illegal mining.

“Before we came, there were talks that they will not stop their activities in the Ashanti Region and they will not allow us to intimidate them. If it is because of that that this thing happened then it is rather unfortunate. Our aim is not to come here and attack people. We have the right to protect ourselves but we will not go out and be shooting people unless when we come to arrest you, you fire at us then we will also retaliate.”

His comment was in relation to the alleged killing of an illegal miner in Anyimadukrom during a clash between the task-force and some illegal miners in the area.

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By: Rita Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Illegal miners still resistant – Anti-galamsey taskforce appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.