- Joint police and forestry team ambushed by 20 armed men in Jimira Forest
- One attacker shot after threatening officers with gun and machete
- Four suspects arrested, two pump-action guns and four excavators seized
A joint operation involving the Ghana Police Service and the Forestry Commission’s Rapid Response Team to remove armed illegal miners from the Jimira Forest Reserve turned violent, resulting in one person being shot.
The operation, launched in response to a JoyNews report on the invasion of Compartment 13 of the reserve, involved 34 police officers from the Ashanti Region/Nkawie Division and 19 forest guards. Three days after the illegal incursion, the team entered the area but encountered resistance at Amangoase, near Adobewura, from a group of 20 heavily built men armed with pump-action guns and machetes.
According to the team, one man aimed a gun at a police officer while another attempted to attack with a machete. Police responded by shooting one of the assailants in the leg and disarmed the group.
It was later revealed that the armed men had been invited by Captain (Rtd) Mohammed Jabari, the Ashanti Regional Security Liaison Officer, who claimed he also intended to address the illegal mining activity. Speaking to JoyNews’ Erastus Asare Donkor, he said:
“I also saw the JoyNews report and made arrangements to help resolve the situation. I asked Alhassan to bring some men to assist. I wasn’t present during the clash, but when I arrived, I saw there had been a confrontation, and one person had been shot.”
Captain Jabari added that the injured individual is currently undergoing surgery at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and described the incident as a misunderstanding.
The Jimira and Offin Shelterbelt Forest Reserves have experienced repeated attacks by illegal miners. Though the Inspector General of Police (IGP) led a raid recently, the miners returned just three days later, this time targeting the Bonteso section.
During the recent operation, security forces arrested four suspects, seized two pump-action guns, and impounded four excavators.
In a related incident earlier this year, a member of the Forestry Commission’s Rapid Response team was slashed in the knee with a machete while patrolling the Apemkro section of the Offin Shelterbelt, highlighting the persistent threat posed by armed groups operating in protected forest areas.
