By Ashiadey Dotse
The Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Professor Nana Ama Klutse, has revealed that illegal miners attacked an EPA joint team and journalists near Obuasi, leading to a serious road accident that injured several people, including a Channel One TV journalist.
Speaking on TV3 on Thursday, November 6, 2025, Prof. Klutse said the team was on a three-week national operation aimed at cutting off the supply chains that support illegal mining in water bodies.
She explained that the team had gone to Dadwene, near Obuasi, to inspect an illegal mining site. The group included soldiers and national security officers.
Prof. Klutse said that when they arrived, the miners fled. Three excavators were found operating directly in the river, which had been blocked and diverted.
However, as they were leaving, they saw armed men dressed in black uniforms with “CID” written on them approaching. The EPA team could not exchange fire and had to retreat.
While escaping through Afari, the Accra command advised them to take a different route because of security risks. During this diversion, one of the convoy vehicles crashed head-on into a truck believed to be carrying pipes used in galamsey operations.
Several EPA staff and journalists were injured. A Joy TV cameraman suffered a broken thigh, while an Adom TV correspondent sustained a head injury.
Prof. Klutse said she is grateful no one died and praised the medical team attending to the victims.
“We thank God that we all have our lives. It is unfortunate that we have some injuries, but we have asked the doctors and nurses to pay special attention to them because they were injured while on national duty,” she added.
