Kwame Ato Asare Ani, the wanted leader of an illegal small-scale mining group in Axim, has asserted from his hiding place that the Ghana Police Service has detained three innocent citizens as part of their efforts to apprehend those responsible for reportedly attacking some police officers in the area.
Kwame Ani claimed that only one of the arrested persons was a member of the galamsey gang he leads and that the others were all innocent and unaware of the alleged confrontation with the police as captured in a viral video.
He went on to state that the aforementioned people who have been detained by the police are his family members who are working for him on a hotel project.
Speaking in an interview on Peace FM’s Afternoon News on April 03, 2023, the famous galamseyer further alleged that the police arrested the said innocent civilians because they were available on the day of the police operation.
“Those boys in police custody are my brothers, only one among them is not a family member. If you watch the viral video, only one of the guys that is part of the whole brouhaha, the tall one, he was the one who took the policeman’s gun and took the handcuff, he is the only member of the group. And all the rest that they have arrested are not part of it.
“As I speak to you now, I’m doing a project, I’m constructing a hotel so my brothers come around to help me from a nearby town…then I will give them money after the week.
“So, they came to meet the situation and the police arrested all of them in addition. When you watch the video only one of them is part of it, the tall guy, the rest of them are innocent.
Addressing the circumstance leading to his fallout with the police, Kwame Ani said he received a payment of GH¢100,000.00 from some illegal miners but failed to deliver the money to the police after he felt being cheated by the police in previous deals.
He refuted armed robbery accusations brought against him by the police as false and maintained that until the police tell the public the truth, he is not prepared to surrender for questioning.