EPA And Journalists Crash While On Anti-Galamsey Duty

Professor Nana Ama Klutse, CEO of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), stated that the anti-galamsey team received a tip from Accra. The message urged them to leave the galamsey site immediately during their inspection in the Ashanti Region.

The intel even suggested they reroute, she said while explaining the cause of the accident involving the journalists and EPA staff.

While narrating the incident on TV3 Thursday, November 6, she said, “As the operation we started yesterday (Wednesday, November 5), it’s a three-week plan that the EPA has, to ensure, specifically, the services provided for illegal mining in our water bodies are addressed. We also plan to tackle that issue. So, we realized that it is not enough to just say ‘stop mining in river bodies’; we saw that we needed to go after the suppliers.

“So we shut down many shops at Anhwia Nkwanta, and today (Thursday, November 6), we were heading on another route to close down some other shops. Near Obuasi, we saw galamsey happening on the ground, so we decided to investigate. When we stopped and approached the area, they ran away as we got closer, and all of them had left by the time we arrived.

“So we looked around for what we could seize, and we did seize some items. While leaving, we noticed more excavators—three of them—in a river that had been mined and blocked, causing tributaries to flood surrounding areas. It was a chaotic scene. It was a really bad situation. We then took another route to the location, and while we were there, the miners fled. We called them to come back, and just before we could talk, we received reports, and a group of men with guns appeared.

“We had the military and national security with us, but we realized we couldn’t engage them in a fight, so we had to run for our lives. While fleeing at high speed, we encountered this accident.”

“One of the vehicles, carrying EPA staff and some journalists, collided head-on with a truck that was transporting pipes for galamsey operations. Some heavily built men dressed in black, with CID written on the back, however, when the soldiers and national security asked for their IDs, it became confrontational, and we had to leave because they said they couldn’t overpower them.”

“While the confrontation was ongoing, we received intel from Accra telling us to leave immediately and avoid the planned route. We were advised not to return the same way we came from Kumasi to Obuasi, so we took a longer route through the Western and Central regions to Kumasi. Just before reaching Kumasi, the head-on collision occurred.”

She further appealed to the doctors and nurses attending to the journalists and EPA staff involved in the accident to give them special attention.

She explained that they were on a national duty when the incident happened, stressing her call for urgent medical care.

Professor Nana Ama Klutse said the victims sustained various injuries, including broken thighs, head injuries, and chest pains.

Professor Nana Ama Klutse, CEO of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA),

She added, “We thank God that we all have our lives now; it is just unfortunate that we have some injuries. The most critical one is a broken thigh, which is one of the Joy TV cameramen. Your correspondent, Abubarkar, has some chest pains and is responding to treatment. Adom TV’s correspondent had a head injury; he is also responding to treatment. We also have EPA staff involved in the accident; they are responding to treatment. We have discussed with the medical team to prioritize their care because we were on a national assignment before this incident.”

The incident occurred at Afari following a violent encounter with illegal miners near Obuasi.

Reports indicate that the EPA convoy was initially attacked by illegal miners at Dadwene, a community near Obuasi. The severity of the attack reportedly forced the EPA team and accompanying media personnel to retreat.

The subsequent accident at Afari has left several people injured. Among the journalists involved was Ibrahim Abubakar, the Ashanti Regional Correspondent for Media General, but he is okay.

In an update to the news desk, reporter William Evans-Nkum clarified the apparent geographical discrepancy between the attack site and the accident.