The family of the illegal miner who was shot dead at Anyimadukurom in the Obuasi Municipality in the Ashanti Region have called on the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to offer their son a state burial.
According to them, the anti-galamsey taskforce deliberately shot Kwabena Agyemang, 31, who they described as a ‘bread winner’ and left him to bleed for over two hours before rushing him to the hospital.
The deceased illegal miner, according to the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the taskforce, Major Gariba Pabi, and his colleague illegal miners pelted stones and fired at the force in protest of its activities.
“We are in the Ashanti region to carry out His Excellency President Akufo-Addo’s initiative against galamsey. Today, our personnel from Ashanti region on patrols around Wawase area chanced upon galamseyers who threw stones at them and fired gunshots.
“So the taskforce fired warning shots to scare them away. After everything, we cordoned the area for a search. After the search, one person with a gunshot wound was found. He was given first aid and rushed to AGA Hospital and he was pronounced dead at the hospital,” he recounted in an interview with Adom News.
But reacting to the issue on Adom FM’s Morning Show “Dwaso Nsem” Monday, a miner, Owusu Asante denied pelting stones at the personnel.
“The personnel fired gun shots without any considerations. No one pelted stones at them. “The soldiers lied. The young man is a bread winner in his family, who takes care of his mother with high pressure,” he claimed.
The residents however continued that: “We believe they did that because of the Denkyira Obuasi incident, the military are over reacting. They should also take care of all the expenses for the funeral. President Akufo-Addo should treat our brother the same way Major Mahama was treated else they will face our wrath,” he appealed.
Owusu Asante further sworn that the team of illegal miners in the country are ready to face the anti-galamsey taskforce squarely and hence warned them to be battle ready.
“We are ready to face them squarely. No one will run away any longer. If they are men enough, let them come and face us,” they warned.
A four hundred joint military/police anti-galamsey taskforce was last month deployed to three regions in the country to enforce the ban on illegal small-scale mining.
The troops were sub-divided into three and deployed to Ashanti, Eastern and Western regions.
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