Bernard Allotey Jacobs has charged all Ghanaians to join the battle against illegal miners in the country.

Illegal miners' activities have destroyed the country's forest reserves, waterbodies and the communities they operate.

As a result, there are incessant calls for action to be taken against illegal mining, also called galamsey.

The President has deployed 200 soldiers to remove all persons and mining logistics from Ghana’s waterbodies.

The operation started on River Pra in the Central and Western Regions.

This was disclosed in a statement issued by the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.

"In furtherance of the resolutions of the final communique, of the Stakeholder Dialogue on Small Scale Mining on April 14 -15, 2021 and to ensure that mining within water bodies is immediately stopped; the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has authorized the Ghana Armed Forces, to commence an operation, to remove all persons and logistics involved in mining from Ghana’s water bodies. The operation commenced at 0600 hours on Wednesday, April 28th, 2021 on the River Pra in the Central and Western regions of Ghana. Two Hundred (200) officers of the Ghana Armed Forces are involved in the operation," the statement read.

Addressing the galamsey menace in a panel discussion on Peace FM's flagship programme 'Kokrokoo', Allotey Jacobs called on Ghanaians to collectively support and help the President to accomplish his goal in the mining sector.

To him, only a 'stupid' person will refuse to join the crusade against illegal mining.

He feared the galamsey menace will have dire repercussions on the nation in the future if not stopped.

"Are we stupid as a nation? Are we stupid as Ghanaians? We need to be asking ourselves. If you're not stupid, then join in the crusade against the galamsey. That is what I will tell Ghanaians. If we're not stupid and we don't think ahead, beyond the box, that in the next 5 to 10 years; we won't have drinkable water, so we should join the fight against galamsey," he exclaimed.