Angry youth at Manso Keniago in the Ashanti Region have besieged the palace of the paramount chief and nearly attacked the District Chief Executive (DCE) following the deadly confrontation involving residents, suspected illegal miners and personnel of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS).
The youth, clad in red and black attire, stormed the chief’s palace to express their displeasure over the incident, which has claimed six lives.
JoyNews’ Nana Yaw Agyeman reported the development on Joy FM’s Midday News on Thursday, November 12.
He said the aggrieved youth also attempted to attack the DCE, accusing him of failing to do enough to bring the situation under control.
“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 confrontation reportedly occurred on Wednesday afternoon when some residents and suspected illegal miners attempted to prevent NAIMOS personnel from tracking excavators seized from the area.
Preliminary accounts indicate that the group blocked the road and pelted the personnel’s vehicles with stones, shattering the windscreens of some of them.
The death toll, initially reported at three, has since risen to six, although the circumstances surrounding the fatalities remain unclear.