Operation Vanguard has given the assurance that no blood will be spilled again in their operations.
The National Commander of the task force, Colonel William Agyapong told Starr News, the President issued a firm warning to the task force during its inauguration to ensure that no single drop of blood is spilled during their operation.
“Lives are very precious, and let me say emphatically, from the onset of this mission, his Excellency was very strict that no blood should be spilt; no pint of blood and that is what we aim to do. We were not involved in this particular incident and I want the good people of this country to be rest assured, we are here to help protect the environment and that is what we are doing, and we will do that within the ambit of the laws of this country”.
Colonel Agyapong made the remarks after the taskforce honoured an invitation by the Eastern Regional Security Council, REGSEC, on Tuesday in Koforidua having failed to attend the meeting Monday.
The REGSEC meeting was to among other issues, establish whether or not the Taskforce has hands in the death of the four persons found in a mining pit at Akukuso near Kwabeng .
He said the task force is not responsible for the killing of the four men. He noted no level of provocation will lead to the killing of any illegal miner.
“No level of provocation will be such that it will require somebody’s life to be taken. We are security men, we are policemen and military men, we will only use our weapons if our lives are threatened, at this stage, we haven’t come to that”.
He said the operation in the Eastern region is going well, commending the locals in mining areas for volunteering more information to the Taskforce .
The Eastern regional Minister, Eric Kwakye Darfuor, who doubles as chairman of the Regional Security Council said the IGP has dispatched special investigators from the homicide unit of the Ghana Police Service to establish the cause of death of the four persons.
He, however, said, the preliminary autopsy report has ruled out gunshots hence it is possible to suggest the four persons drowned but the circumstances leading to their suspected drowning reveals a foul play which investigations into the incident will help unravel.
Meanwhile, the REGSEC will hold a stakeholder meeting which will involve the small scale miners on Thursday, August 17 to deliberate on the way forward on the operations of the taskforce.
