I have asked my 'small boy' to turn himself in – A Plus on wanted Axim galamsey kingpin

Activist and politician, Kwame Asare Obeng alias A Plus has disclosed that he has asked galamsey fugitive, Kwame Ato Ani Asare to hand himself over to the police.

According to A Plus who described Ani as his “small boy,” he has entreated him to report himself to the police for investigations to continue into the claims made against him by the police.

“Kwame is my small boy. I posted the video. I have been in contact with Kwame Ani from the beginning of the issue and I posted the video because I wanted everyone to see the video.

"We assessed everything and came to the conclusion that if we don’t share the video, it will become the everyday issue where a person is labelled an armed robber, shot and killed by the police with no questions asked. So we wanted to make it a national issue.

“I spoke to Kwame and I asked him to hand himself over to the police. I told him I will come to Axim myself and pick him and hand over to the police,” he said.

While condemning the actions of Ani, A Plus stated that the police are equally to blame for creating a criminal out of him as a result of Ani’s work with the police as an informant.

“Kwame is a stubborn boy... but his stubbornness as a result of him being empowered by the police. When we talk about the police nobody should defend them. Only a few people in the police are good people, the majority of them are bad nuts. Just two years ago, a police officer involved in an accident was found to be transporting a stash of weed. It was in this same country that a police killed his colleague on bank escort duty because they wanted to steal the money..,” he stated.

Kwame Ato Asare Ani is the name currently dominating the media space in Ghana following events around a viral video in which he and a group of men were captured in a heated confrontation with some police officers.

The police have since labeled him as the leader of a criminal group and has put him on a wanted list even though Ani, speaking to some media houses from a hideout has denied the allegation.

A viral video showed a gang of men confronting a group of police officers for purportedly seeking to arrest their leader.

Identified in a statement later released by the police as Kwame Ani Asare, the gang leader accused the police officers of seeking to arrest him after paying them a bribe.

Amidst threats, one of the officers is seen in the video going on his knees to plead with the gang leader.

The Ghana Police Service said it received a report on March 28, 2023, that a group of officers from the Axim Police Command had been attacked by the gang in question.

The police stated that it conducted an operation which has led to the arrest of four members of the gang.

However speaking to some media houses from a hideout, the gang leader said he was no robber but an informant who has been collecting money from small scale miners and delivering to the police.

According to him, the attempt by the police to arrest him is on the back of his refusal to hand over some GH ₵100,000.00 he had collected from a galamsey site to the police.

He noted that the refusal to hand over the money is a result of the police cheating him out in various previous deals, the arrest of four members of the gang while the leader, Kwame Ani remains at large and on their wanted list.