Manso Keniago Chief Challenges NAIMOS to Produce Drone Footage as Death Toll Rises to Six in Anti-Galamsey Shooting

The Chief of Manso Keniago in the Amansie South District has publicly challenged the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) to provide evidence of the alleged attack on its personnel that the task force says triggered a reprisal shooting now blamed for at least six deaths, including a toddler.

Nana Obeng Mensah Ababio told journalists on Friday that residents were shot in their homes, in a bathroom, and while fleeing, contradicting NAIMOS’s account that its operatives came under fire from an armed mob obstructing the transport of a seized excavator.

“Here are pellets from the rifles they shot. I have handed some to the police,” the Chief said. “The young lady they killed was in the bathroom when the NAIMOS operatives went in to shoot her. Another victim is a male who operates a food joint. They killed him as he was running from his food joint.”

Competing Accounts of the Clash

The violence erupted on Wednesday, November 11, when a NAIMOS task force attempted to move a confiscated excavator through the community along a newly tarred road. According to NAIMOS, personnel encountered an armed mob that tried to forcibly obstruct the movement of the equipment, prompting warning shots. The Secretariat said two of its operatives sustained gunshot wounds in the confrontation .

The Chief disputes this account entirely. He insists that no community members confronted the task force at the excavator site, and that the only engagement was between himself, other traditional leaders, and the operatives — an encounter he says was filmed.

“They did not go to the excavator. It was only me and the chiefs, and it was filmed. If government wants the truth, they should ask NAIMOS to release the drone footage. They filmed everything,” Nana Mensah Ababio said.

The community also rejects photographs circulating of a vehicle riddled with bullets, which NAIMOS has cited as evidence of an armed attack. Residents say the images are misleading and do not reflect what happened.

Death Toll and Aftermath

Initial reports on Wednesday confirmed three deaths. By Friday, the toll had risen to six, with several others injured, including a toddler. The dead include a woman shot in her bathroom and a food vendor killed as he fled his stall, according to the Chief.

The streets of Manso Keniago were described as engulfed in grief and anger, with residents clad in black and red mourning the dead while agitated youth openly confronted officials. Police had to intervene to stop angry youth from attacking the District Chief Executive, Benjamin Marfo, whom they accuse of failing to come to their aid during the shooting.

Calls for Independent Investigation Mount

The Manso Adubia branch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has demanded the withdrawal of NAIMOS from the area pending the outcome of an investigation. The Chief has called for a thorough and independent inquiry, insisting the bereaved families deserve justice .

The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources said it has launched an investigation into the incident, describing it as “deeply unfortunate” and assuring the public that efforts would be made to establish the circumstances surrounding the shooting .

Background: A Community Repeatedly Caught in the Crossfire

The Manso enclave has been a flashpoint in Ghana’s long-running battle against illegal mining, known locally as galamsey. Confrontations between residents and security personnel have occurred repeatedly over the years, with lives lost and injuries sustained .

NAIMOS, a special-purpose unit under the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, has intensified enforcement operations across Ghana’s mining regions, seizing excavators and arresting illegal miners. The Secretariat has consistently maintained that its operations are lawful and that attacks on its personnel are unacceptable .

Just days before the Manso Keniago incident, a separate operation in the Atiwa Forest Reserve resulted in the death of one suspected illegal miner during an exchange of gunfire . And in the same week, the ABA Progressive Small Scale Miners Association accused security personnel of using the anti-galamsey campaign to extort licensed operators, allegations the government has not publicly addressed .

For the people of Manso Keniago, the latest violence has deepened a sense of grievance that predates Wednesday’s shooting. The Chief’s challenge to NAIMOS — release the drone footage, show the evidence — has become a rallying cry for a community demanding accountability from an operation that was supposed to protect the nation’s resources but, they say, took their children instead.