15 illegal miners arrested in Prestea by Operation Vanguard

Fifteen (15) suspected illegal miners have been arrested by a combined team of armed police and military working under Operation Vanguard at Nankaba a suburb of Prestea in Western Region.

The suspects were arrested during a night operation in the area by the security personnel as residents continue to defy government’s directives to operate under the cover of darkness.

Mynewsgh.com has confirmed that they have been transported by a tipper truck and currently in police custody at Prestea awaiting prosecution.

Small scale miners in the area are however accusing the soldiers of robbing them indicating that they are using their operations to forcibly take possessions of their belongings with threats of gunning them down if they exhibit some residents.

According to Nanaba Boakye Ansah of Energy Fm, the miners claim that when Monday’s operation was ongoing, some of the galamsey workers were inside the pit but the soldiers disconnected the light cables and blower machines which provide them with air in the pit.

This nearly resulted in the suffocation of those who were underground calling on the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources to put his soldiers to check or they will be compelled to face them squarely.