A riot occured outside the Hwidiem Police Station on November 1, 2025, after a joint anti-illegal mining team arrested two individuals and seized vehicles and weapons at a nearby site.
Details available indicate that the confrontation started around 2:30 PM when a team led by Colonel Dominic Buah, Head of the National Anti-illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), arrived at the station.
The team had intercepted an illegal mining operation near Bronikrom.
The NAIMOS team arrested two suspects, identified as Zakaria (the site owner) and Kwame Alex.
They also seized two vehicles—a registered Range Rover belonging to Zakaria and an unregistered Rav 4—along with multiple mobile phones and mining equipment.
Aside from that, they also confiscated a Smith & Wesson pistol, two pistol magazines, and twenty-one rounds of 9mm ammunition found in a side bag.
Wooden structures at the site and mining equipment were destroyed.
While the NAIMOS officers were at the police station, a large crowd estimated at six hundred people from Hwidiem and surrounding areas attacked the facility.
The angry mob demanded the immediate release of the two seized vehicles and called for the police to hand over the soldiers for disciplinary action.
The situation quickly escalated into violence. The mob began vandalising property, smashing the windscreen of a Toyota Hilux pick-up (AD 7191-25) belonging to the NAIMOS team.
Police reinforcements were deployed, including the Regional Crime Officer, Chief Superintendent Mr Prince Odom-Koduah, and a fifteen-member Regional Task Force.
They met local police commanders already on site, including the Divisional Commander of Goaso, Chief Superintendent John Atanga, and the Kenyase District Commander, Superintendent Mr Opoku Yamoah.
Seven male and one female military officer were found sheltering in the charge office, while two others were protected in the CID offices.
With the mob growing increasingly agitated and demanding the ignition keys for the seized vehicles, the situation was deemed critical, particularly due to the approaching darkness and a simultaneous power outage.
In a bid to de-escalate the crisis, police and military leadership negotiated with a local intermediary, Zongo Chief Mohammed Bashiru of Hwidiem Zarikyi. Despite the Chief’s earlier attempts to calm the crowd proving unsuccessful, it was ultimately agreed that the ignition keys to the seized vehicles would be released to their owners to diffuse the tension.
The Zongo Chief then offered his own Toyota Sequal 4×4 to evacuate Colonel Buah and his team to a safer location.
The military personnel were successfully rescued to the Newmont Site at Kenyase under police escort.
However, during the chaotic evacuation, the Chief’s rescue vehicle was also vandalised, sustaining a smashed back windscreen.
Meanwhile, on the instructions of the team leader, the seized exhibits were formally handed over to the police for evidential purposes.
The exhibits handed over included:
* One Smith & Wesson pistol, two pistol magazines, and twenty-one 9 mm ammunition rounds.
* One black side bag.
* GHS 11,000 cash.
* One Lexus ignition key.
* Twelve assorted mobile phones (Samsung, Techno, Villanelle, and one Itel ‘yam’ phone).
* One power bank.
An investigation has been launched into the matter.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana