Some galamsey agents captured for participating in illicit mining in the Atewa Forest went crazy on Monday, May 24, 2021, at the premises of Koforidua Circuit Court’ B’ after the court rejected them bail.
The indictment drove by Dickson Donkor and Helen Samlafo both state Attorneys, and Silvester Asare – Police Prosecutor asked the court to remand the denounced people into Police Custody to empower further examination concerning a few names of people referenced by the blamed people as the individuals who purportedly sent them. In any case, the legal advisors for the denounced people, in any case, petitioned the court that their customers won’t flee and that they will be accessible whenever the court needs them, hence, be considered to allow them bail.
The court managed by Her Honor Mercy Addei Kotei, notwithstanding, remanded the blamed into Police Custody to return on June 8, 2021.
This is the second time the blamed people have been denied bail by the Court.
Loved ones of the blamed people who were hopeful for bail for the denounced people were disillusioned and cried wildly at the premises of the court. A portion of the charged people situated in cuffs in a transport, went wild blaming the decision New Patriotic Party for utilizing and unloading them.
Some of them affirmed that the gathering utilized them to carry out monstrosities in Ayawaso West Wuagon by-political decision just as the 2020 Presidential political race in Kumasi.
“You sent us to Ayawaso, in the 2020 races you sent us to Kumasi to make a show. In any case, today you are calling us hoodlums in the meantime it is the workplace of the President that sent us to the Atewa Forest. NPP is certifiably not a decent gathering. We will show them.”
The 32 denounced people are George Asante, Kwaku Frimpong, Alfred Kyei, Yaw Opoku, Richard Nartey, Paul Osei Kuffour, Dominic Beblie, Samuel Kofi Edusei, Silas Boakye Gyan, Joseph Oduro Asare, Mukaila Attah, Stephen Opoku, Michael Quansah, Derrick Adu Kwakye, Razark Suleman, Stephen Kofi Felan, Dominic Ghansah, Robert Nartey Tetteh, Eric Addei, Yakubu Mohammed@ Jordan 1 and Benlord Abebio@ Commander.The rest are Adam Dakurugu, Kwame Isaac, Joe Acquah, Emmanuel Arhin, Samuel Asiedu Gyamfra, David Akakpo, Ebenezer Boateng, Joseph Kwaku Gyqmfi, Fuseini Alhassan, Alhassan Asibi and Gabriel Dormate.
They have been accused temporarily of ownership of guns without legal pardon.
Brief realities
The concise realities of the case are that the blamed people are a gathering for people who conveyed themselves as agents of the National Security.
As per the Prosecution, the security offices got data that the charged people furnished with weapons and riffles were attempted illicit mining exercises for the sake of National Security and bugging the locals of towns around the Eastern Region with their weapons.
The Prosecutor said, upon the strength of the data, a group of officials both regular clothes and uniform officials from the National Security secretariat were dispatched to the space to discover current realities.
He told the court that, the officials along with a group of cops from the Eastern Regional Police order continued to the Akenteng part of the Atewa backwoods save, close to Osinease in the Eastern Region where the group met and saved the blamed people from a furious youth at Akenteng. The Prosecution said primer examinations uncovered that the blamed people are a gathering for people who conveyed themselves as National Security Operatives while indeed, they are not.
The Prosecution said, the blamed people equipped with weapons and strutting themselves as National Security Operatives have been visiting a few mining towns and towns inside the Ashanti and the Eastern Region to embrace unlawful mining exercises.
It was likewise settled that the blamed people as part of their unlawful exercises compromised, requested and held onto an undefined kilo of gold and gigantic amounts of cash from certain limited scale excavators (Galamsey) for the sake of the National Security.
He said, on May 4, the charged people furnished with rifles raged the Akenteng timberland hold in the Eastern Region as officials of the National Security in the advancement of their personality and mission jumped on them in the backwoods while burrowing for gold and captured them.
The denounced people as indicated by the arraignment were subsequently brought to Accra for additional cross-examinations.
The Prosecution said, throughout cross-examination, the blamed people demonstrated that they were not officials of the National Security as they asserted.
They anyway guaranteed responsibility for weapons recovered. As per the arraignment, the charged people added that they were in the woodland to attempt surveillance.
Shows recovered from the blamed people incorporate a Tudor short weapon, siphon activity firearm, two terrible short firearms, attack rifles and 10 rounds of ammo just as a cougar gun.
The group additionally recovered from the blamed people 12 Gotta handsets, three binds, four digging tools and an electronic stunner.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Kojo Ansah