A Number of relatives of illegal miners in Tarkwa, a popular mining community in the Western Region, are worried about the whereabouts of their relatives who were arrested in a recent joint police-military swoop.
The 24 suspects, most of whom are teenagers, were arrested at Kenyanko, a popular 'galamsey’ site at Nsuaem in the Tarkwa municipality.
A spokesman for the concerned family members, Safohen Zico, whose 15-year-old son was among the suspects, confirmed the frustrations of relatives of the victims in an interview with The Finder.
“One whole week after their arrest, relatives, family members and friends have not been given any information by the police about the whereabouts of the suspects, let alone given access to the suspects, and we think this is not only unfortunate but unjust,” he said.
According to him, the affected family members cannot fathom why the families have not been told by the police about the whereabouts of their relatives, let alone making information available for them to have access to them even a week after their arrest.
Zico claims he personally contacted the Tarkwa Police Command to ascertain the whereabouts of his 15-year-old son, but had since not received any concrete information, adding that, “I was directed to the Regional Police Command in Sekondi but I was equally disappointed.”
He said rumours were flying around that the suspects had been taken to Accra, but his checks at the National Security have so far not yielded any positive result.
Zico, therefore, made a passionate appeal to the leadership of the police command to make known the whereabouts of the 24 suspects so that the family members would be at peace.
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