Rioting illegal miners remanded for injuring 7 policemen

A Koforidua District Magistrate Court has remanded into Police custody 37 illegal miners, including a deaf and dumb person who attacked armed security personnel.

The illegal miners have been accused of five provisional charges including assault on public officers.

According to the prosecutor, Superintendent Kofi Bragogyiri, the illegal miners raised a false alarm that the joint team of armed military, police, national security and immigration personnel, which was carrying out an operation at Akyem Dompem and Akyem Osenase, was a gang of armed robbers.

He said the miners then mounted road blocks with electricity poles, metals, cement blocks and other implements in an attempt to disarm members of the security to free some illegal miners in their custody.

They pelted the armed men with stones and sticks which injured seven security officers. One other personnel collapsed after he was hit by a stone.

A re-enforcement team came to the rescue of the initial squad under attack. The illegal miners vandalized two vehicles belonging to the team.

The suspects will reappear in court on January 14, 2016.