Tensions have escalated at Manso Keniago in the Ashanti Region, where angry youth besieged the palace of the paramount chief and nearly attacked the District Chief Executive (DCE) following a deadly clash involving residents, suspected illegal miners and personnel of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS).
Dressed in red and black, the youth stormed the palace to register their anger over the confrontation, which has left six people dead.
JoyNews reporter Nana Yaw Agyeman disclosed the development on Joy FM’s Midday News on Thursday, November 12.
He reported that the aggrieved youth also attempted to attack the DCE, blaming him for failing to take adequate steps to contain the situation.
“Manso Keniago at the moment is engulfed in anger. Residents in black and red are mourning, while the youth are agitating and openly hostile. The atmosphere at the Chief’s palace, where I am currently, is tense with chants by the youth. Earlier, the DCE walked into the Chief’s palace to commiserate with the community, but it took police intervention to stop the youth from attacking the DCE,” he reported.
“The youth claimed he (the DCE) refused to intervene in the shooting incident yesterday when we called upon him, so they believe that he is also culpable in what is happening here in Manso Keniago,” Nana Yaw Agyeman added.
The clash reportedly took place on Wednesday afternoon after some residents and suspected illegal miners attempted to stop NAIMOS personnel from tracking excavators seized from the area.
Preliminary reports suggest the group blocked the road and pelted the officers’ vehicles with stones, smashing the windscreens of several vehicles.
The number of fatalities, initially put at three, has since increased to six, although the exact circumstances surrounding the deaths are yet to be established.
