The Forestry Commission has begun setting up protection camps at some notable forest reserves hotspots of illegal mining in the Ashanti Region.
Currently, land preparation is ongoing for the establishment of five forest protection camps in the Bekwai and Nkawie forest districts.
In the Bekwai Forest District, three protection camps are being set up in the Oda Forest Reserve, with an additional one at the Apamprama Forest Reserve.
Furthermore, another camp is being established at the boundary of the Offin Shelterbelt Forest Reserve located at Mmofrafadwen in the Nkawie Forest District, which has been a major hub for armed illegal miners.
The establishment of the camps follows a near-death attack on two Daily Graphic journalists, who had embarked on a field trip to the Ashanti Region to ascertain the state of illegal mining activities in forest reserves.
The reporter and a photo journalist were on a tour of the Offin Shelterbelt Forest Reserve on January 19, this year, under the protection of forest guards and some members of the rapid response team (RRT) of the Forestry Commission when armed thugs, believed to be security guards of illegal miners, attacked them.
That particular forest reserve has been classified as a red zone by the Forestry Commission due to the presence of heavily armed illegal miners, making it a no-go area for forest guards.
However, on December 15, 2025, the Commission announced that with the help of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), all nine forest reserves that were categorised as red zones had been taken back from the armed thugs.
With that assurance, and given that the RRT at the Nkawie Forest Services Division (FSD) had led the way to the forest reserve, the journalists felt safe to carry out their fact-finding mission.
The tour actually started from the Bekwai Forest District, where the two assessed the extent of damage caused to the forest ecosystem, including the Oda River, which had been heavily polluted.
When they got to Compartment 43 of the Offin Shelterbelt Forest Reserve, it was observed that a vast portion of the forest reserve had been reduced to a bare land dotted with gaping pits sandwiched by heaps of excavated soil.
The District Manager of the Nkawie FSD, Abraham Essel, estimated the massive destruction to be 67 hectares.
Additionally, many hectares of forest land where farmers had planted trees under the Forest Commission’s Modified Tanugya System (MTS) initiative, had been wiped off by the illegal miners.
Thriving trees, interlocking canopies, chirping of birds, creeping of soil fauna that usually welcomed visitors to the forest environment were totally absent.
The once fresh River Offin that gave the reserve its name had been blocked at that portion of the reserve, ensuring that no aquatic organism survived in it.
Thugs attack
While the Daily Graphic team was conducting an interview with Mr Essel, gun-wielding thugs emerged out of the blue and started firing sporadic gunshots. The hoarse and raspy voices of the stout and fearsome looking men echoed through the forest amid gunshots.
In their fulminating and bellowing mood, the thugs cocked their guns and pulled machetes out of their sheaths, sending a clear signal of their intention to strike at the drop of a hat.
A clash suddenly ensued between the thugs and the rapid response team of the Nkawie Forest District, who tried to shield the innocent journalists.
In the heat of a verbal altercation, interspersed with threats of harm from the thugs, the journalists miraculously smuggled themselves into the vehicle they had gone there with to avoid any fatality.
Traumatic experience
However, a towering figure in smock decorated with amulets and talisman, who was believed to be the leader of the assailants, managed to smoke out the journalists in a dramatic fashion.
He shouted, “where are the two guys who were taking pictures and videos! Let’s get them now!”
He immediately headed to the vehicle of the journalists and screamed, “come out here or we will break this car!”
As those threats reverberated alongside rapid bangs on the vehicle the journalists had no choice than to go on their knees and plead for mercy.
As the ape in the bully was eventually tamed, he firmly instructed the helpless duo: “if you come out and delete all pictures and videos you have taken here, we will not harm you.”
True to his words, he supervised the deletion of every picture and video the journalists had taken, with a stern warning of a worse consequence if news of the incident ever went out.
“We have seen your faces. If you don’t know and anything goes out, we will look for you,” he yelled.
After the storm had calmed down following assurances from the journalists that they would not publish the incident, the thugs ordered them and the RRT of the Forestry Commission out of the forest reserve with dispatch before they changed their mind.
As the journalists and the RRT left the scene, the thugs followed them with their motorbikes through the Mmofranfadwen community till they hit the main road towards Nkawie.
Nkawie police
One week after the case was officially reported to the Nkawie Divisional Police Command, the thugs are yet to be smoked out.
Meanwhile, on January 27, Mr Essel confirmed to the Daily Graphic that the Police were taking steps to unmask the faces behind the January 20 attacks.
“The police have reached out to me with some pictures of the thugs to see if we can identify them.
That process will be thoroughly done to see the way forward,” he said.
Mr Essel further revealed that the Plantation Division of the Forestry Commission had moved to set up a protection camp at the boundary of the Offin Shelterbelt Forest Reserve to beef up security in the area.
“Even today, the police and our team are at the site to clear it for the installation of a container that will be equipped with security gadgets to accommodate our forest guards,” he said.
Similarly, the Deputy Regional Manager of the FSD in charge of the Bekwai Forest District, Ernest Adofoi, said four of the protection camps were being set up within his jurisdiction to help fight illegal mining in forest reserves.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh