2 Ghanaian soldiers, prison officer arrested for robbing mining firms in Ashanti

Three security officers are being investigated by the police for allegedly robbing small scale mining firms in the Ashanti Region.

They were arrested on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 at Koniyaw, a community near the Bekwai Municipality —about an hour drive from the regional capital, Kumasi.

They have been named as Staff Sargent Francis Kwame Boateng and L/Cpl Richard Anyimadu, both military personnel, and L/Cpl Joseph Trezeguet, a prison officer at the Kumasi Central Prisons.

The uniform men were arrested with six other civilians whilst trying to escape with their loot, police sources told DailyMailgh.com.

Kwame Poku, a small scale miner at Koniyaw told our correspondent J. Ofori that the suspects stormed their mining site and demanded gold and money.

“They took some gold, it was in a blanket, and then they continued to ask us for money,” Poku stated.

After further searches, the suspected robbers left in an unregistered Ford transit driven by Agyemang Prempeh, a native of Bekwai.

The victims of the robbery then alerted the police. A police patrol team was informed about the robbery incident and immediately moved to the scene and bumped into the suspects numbering about 12.

Seven of the suspects managed to flee the scene whilst four of them including Sargent Francis Kwame Boateng and L/Cpl Joseph Trezeguet.

While heading to the police station with the suspects, Sargent Francis Kwame Boateng managed to fall from the moving vehicle and escaped into the bush.

He was later arrested together with six other suspects by town town folks at about 11pm after a search.

Police retrieved 3BB Cartridges and a blanket containing the gold concentrates suspected to have been seized by the suspects.

Two water pumping machines and the Ford vehicle have also been kept as exhibits by the police.

Police sources at the Bekwai Divisional Police Command say the suspects had been transported to the Ashanti Regional Police Headquarters for further interrogation.

The command is yet to comment on the matter as it intensifies efforts to arrest other suspects.

Source: J. Ofori, Daily Mail GH