The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has destroyed a mining camp hidden in the Atiwa Forest Reserve after a violent machete-wielding clash among suspected illegal miners, leaving one person seriously injured.
The injured individual was treated at Asiakwa Police Station before being referred to a medical facility. Following the incident, NAIMOS task forces conducted a reconnaissance operation across the rugged terrain, destroying 15 makeshift structures and 11 water pumping machines used in illicit mining.
No arrests were made.
The operation uncovered extensive environmental destruction along river systems within the 23,000-hectare reserve, a critical watershed, biodiversity hotspot, and carbon sink.
Kyebi Forestry Manager, Alfred Owusu Ameyaw, revealed that armed miners are increasingly difficult to confront:
“At the Sagyimase section, the guys there are wielding guns. Last year, my men were held hostage… the miners have guns, while we are not mandated to carry guns.”
Despite closing gates and seizing unauthorised motorbikes, miners have created bypasses using tricycles and bikes to evade enforcement. Ameyaw welcomed the NAIMOS operation and proposed establishing armed forest camps near boundary lines as a long-term solution.
Environmental NGO A Rocha Ghana warns the forest has become a “Red Zone.”
The destruction threatens the water security of over five million Ghanaians who depend on rivers originating from the reserve, undermining Sustainable Development Goals on Life on Land (SDG 15) and Climate Action (SDG 13).
NAIMOS has launched investigations into the violence and illegal mining, vowing to intensify operations across the reserve to protect water bodies and curb further degradation.
