The Member of Parliament for Wa West Peter Toobu says the national security officers who have been arrested for illegal mining in the Eastern region should be given the highest form of punishment for the illegal mining.

According to him, such a move will send a strong signal to the citizenry that government is serious about the second wave of its e fight against illegal mining.

“They should be handed the highest sentence. If they are escorted to Accra, that should be the end of the military involvement in the case. They should be handed to the prosecutorial powers for them to complete the work.

“This matter should be treated expressly. If they are really stationed at the seat of government then they are probably backed by a higher power. If people from the jubilee House involved in wrongdoing are arrested, it helps the fight and whoever is helping in the fight,” he the ex-police officer told Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Thursday...

The suspects were on Tuesday transferred from the Asamankese police station, where they were sent after being apprehended by a mob, to the Eastern Regional Police Headquarters.

They were transported in the police branded Bus Wednesday morning under the guard of armed military personnel some of whom were on board the bus while others followed the bus with a military vehicle.

The youth of Akyem Akanteng on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, invaded the Atewa Forest reserve to arrest about seventeen (17) illegal miners including 14 National Security Operatives who claimed to be working at the Jubilee House.

The National Security Operatives sneaked into the forest at dawn to illegally mine gold.

The youth of Akyem Akanteng massed up and invaded the forest, disarmed the National Security Operatives, and rounded them up before handing them over to the forestry commission and Police who later came to the community.