33 people have been detained for last week’s vandalism of Golden Star Wassa Mining properties in Benso, Western Region.
Twelve vehicles, including excavators, ambulances, and pick-up trucks, are said to have been set on fire by the illegal miners, among other things, prompting the company’s employees to flee for their lives.
The attack on its personnel and offices in Benso on March 16, 2023, by a group of armed illegal miners known as galamsey, was confirmed by Golden Star Wassa Limited (GSWL).
The armed guys burned down cars, including an ambulance that served the neighbourhood and the company’s workers. Also, they set fire to a portion of Benso’s administrative building. Some of the employees were hurt during the attack.
The Head of Group Corporate Affairs of the company, Gerard Hillary Osei Boakye earlier on in a statement, narrated how they were attacked.
“We usually do our patrols to protect our concession which is required of us by law to be responsible for our boundaries and also prevent incursions, to make sure that community people, hunters, and farms are safe. On one such occasion which was Thursday, March 16, we encountered some illegal miners encroaching, we engaged them as part of our modus operandi and told them to move away”.
They were interested in that area, so they came back and when they came back, we tried to ward them off with the help of the police. They dispersed again and apparently unconfirmed report reaching us is that they may have been injured in the cause of being dispersed. That probably infuriated them, and they came back to torch our vehicles and ran our security post down, destroyed our offices, basically burnt things down,” he explained.
The assault comes after GSWL security personnel conducted a nonviolent engagement and training exercise to evict unauthorized miners who had invaded one of GSWL’s mining pits in Benso. The illegal miners initially fled the area as requested, only to remobilize and return to engage in combat with GSWL security personnel.
“Our employees at the scene were immediately evacuated to safety, and those injured were given medical attention and discharged,” management of GSWL said in a statement.
The security agencies have been formally notified of a complaint. The situation has also been explained to all other stakeholders. As long as the investigations go on, updates will be given.
Anita Zuuri
Annie is an entertainment and lifestyle writer. She enjoys reading and writing about music, celebrities and their lifestyles, food, cars and tech.