One shot as sand winners clash with Okyeman taskforce at Adeiso

One person has been shot in a clash between the Okyeman Environmental Protection task force and sand winners at Adeiso in the West Akyem Municipality in the Eastern region.

The task force stormed the Tank Akuraa community near Adeiso, arrested and handcuffed one Osae Kwame, a sand winner and threw him into a Nissan Pick Up but were pursued by the youth who rescued him.

Later the taskforce members attacked Summertide sand winning Company site at Obeng Yaw village, also near Adeiso, amidst the firing of guns and arrested five workers and shot one other.

Armed police responded to the distress calls about the incidents but the Taskforce failed to stop when signalled by Police.

They were given a hot chase but to no avail.

Information spread through the Communities leading to the youth mounting roadblocks and attacked the task force.

Sensing danger Okyeman Mponuahene, Barima Twum Tabriade and Okyeman Akwansrahene went to the Adeiso police station to seek refuge in a Jeep Patriot SUV with registration number GS9835-19 which had three tyres deflated.

The angry youth and sand winners massed up at the Police station seeking the release of the two chiefs for instant justice.

Due to the tension, Adeiso District Police command called on the Divisional Command for reinforcement to contain the situation.

A search in the Jeep SUV which belongs to Akwansrahene, Baffour Sarpong, contained one AK 47 assault rifle with 3 magazines and 7 Pump-action cartilages.

The five (5 ) suspects including the two chiefs were whisked to Asamankese Divisional Headquarters by the reinforcement team where they were granted Police enquiry bail.

The Public Relations Officer of the Eastern Regional Police Command, DSP Ebenezer Tetteh confirmed the incident.

He said the Regional Police Command has dispatched a team to the troubled area to help resolve the matter to restore calm.

Okyeman Environmental Protection Taskforce was formed over a decade ago to fight against illegal mining, illegal sand winning and illegal chainsawing.