Former Akyem Hemang Assembly Member says uniformed men who shot young man were not NAIMOS personnel

A former Assembly Member for Akyem Hemang in the Eastern Region, Johnson Appiah, has clarified that the uniformed personnel involved in the shooting that claimed the life of a young man in the community were not members of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS).

Mr Appiah said residents initially believed the men were NAIMOS operatives because of their military-style uniforms and the nature of their activities in the area. However, he said subsequent checks established that they were not affiliated with NAIMOS.

Speaking on Eyewitness News on Friday, August 28, Mr Appiah said he had seen the men moving around the community earlier in the day and assumed they were carrying out an anti-illegal mining operation.

“My community here is the operations of NAIMOS, not any other operation team. So when the incident happened, I even thought it was the NAIMOS people. It was later on that we were able to identify them as not being the NAIMOS people,” he said.

According to Mr Appiah, the incident that resulted in the death of Douglas Acheampong began after the uniformed men stopped an immigration officer, Kwaku Kwebia, who was speaking on the phone.

He said the men accused the immigration officer of providing information to illegal miners and demanded to see his phone.

Mr Appiah alleged that when the immigration officer refused to hand over the phone, the men attempted to force him into one of their vehicles.

He said Acheampong intervened in support of the immigration officer before attempting to flee when the confrontation escalated.

“There was a warning shot. About three warning shots. But finally, we saw the guy falling down, trying to wake up. I even thought they had shot his leg,” Mr Appiah recounted.

He said Acheampong subsequently collapsed and was unable to get up, after which residents realised that he had been shot.

“The bullet penetrated. It hit the back and exited from the stomach. So from what I saw, he was shot through the back at close range,” he said.

Mr Appiah estimated that about seven uniformed men were involved in the incident and said they arrived in several vehicles, including two black V8 vehicles and pickup trucks.

He said he was able to identify the registration number of one of the black pickup trucks as CN 7371-25.

The former Assembly Member also rejected suggestions that the security personnel had been attacked by a large crowd before the shooting.

“It was between the military man and the guy who was making the call, and then his father, and then the guy who was shot dead. So it’s nothing like the military men were attacked or something of that kind,” he said.

The incident occurred at about 7 p.m. on Wednesday, August 26, in the heart of Akyem Hemang. Initial reports attributed the shooting to uniformed personnel believed by residents to be members of NAIMOS.

NAIMOS has since denied any involvement in the incident.

In a statement issued on August 28, the Secretariat said it “did not conduct any operation at Akyem Hemang or within the area in question, and no NAIMOS personnel were deployed within that jurisdiction at the material time.”

The Secretariat also cautioned against attributing the activities of uniformed personnel or unauthorised anti-illegal mining teams to NAIMOS.

“The mere presence of uniformed personnel at a location does not constitute a NAIMOS operation,” it said.

NAIMOS has called for reports linking the Secretariat to the shooting to be retracted and corrected, with an apology issued.

The conflicting accounts have heightened questions about the identity of the uniformed personnel involved and the circumstances surrounding the shooting that led to Acheampong’s death.