Two people have been confirmed dead following separate shooting incidents at Nawara Mining Company’s concession at Nsuapemsu near Osino in the Eastern Region.
Eleven suspects, including the Managing Director of Nawara Mining Company, a serving military officer, a former military officer and several company workers, have been arraigned before the Osino District Court in connection with the violence.
The accused are Amuda Yussif Fuseini, Managing Director of Nawara Mining Company; W.O.1 Ayamba Wilfred, a military officer stationed in Accra; Eric Adjetey Okai, a driver; Faisal Bodombie Breilli, a former military officer; Benjamin Ansah, Francis Debrah, Abdul Majeed Yussif and Paul Justice Manu, all workers of Nawara Mining Company.
The remaining accused are Prince Manu, Yakubu Mamud and Isaac Boateng, residents of Obuasi in the Ashanti Region.
According to the prosecution, police received information on October 1, 2026, that military personnel stationed at the entrance of the Nawara Mining Company had come under attack.
A police team dispatched to the scene allegedly found the first eight accused persons and other accomplices engaged in a confrontation with the military personnel.
Police arrested the eight suspects and intercepted a Toyota Land Cruiser with registration number AK 416-25, allegedly being used by some of them.
A search of the vehicle reportedly uncovered a Smith & Wesson pistol, two loaded pistol magazines, eight boxes of pistol ammunition, three boxes of AK-47 ammunition, a box of BB cartridges containing 59 rounds, three loaded AK-47 magazines and five empty AK-47 shells.
The prosecution told the court that the second accused, W.O.1 Ayamba Wilfred, admitted ownership of the pistol and ammunition during interrogation.
He allegedly told investigators that the Managing Director had instructed him to recruit people from Accra to provide security during a meeting he was scheduled to hold with workers at the mining site.
The prosecution further alleged that Ayamba recruited three persons identified as Alhassan, Hamda and Amdan, who are currently at large.
He is alleged to have admitted instructing the three to damage three doors at the company premises, attack the military personnel and remove items belonging to them.
READ: Gunshots, arrests heighten tension over Nawara mining concession in Nsuapemso
The Managing Director, according to the prosecution, also admitted asking Ayamba and his accomplices to come from Accra to provide protection because he felt unsafe.
Two killed in separate Osino gun battle
The prosecution further told the court that later on the same day, police received information about another shooting incident at Osino involving three other accused persons and two unidentified persons.
The three—Prince Manu, Yakubu Mamud and Isaac Boateng—and their alleged accomplices reportedly sustained gunshot and cutlass wounds during the confrontation.
They were rushed to the Osino Clinic, where 21-year-old Elvis Nana Mintah and another person identified as Aziz were pronounced dead on arrival.
Police subsequently retrieved four pump-action guns, a Smith & Wesson pistol, 14 machetes and a box of BB cartridges from the scene.
The three accused persons were transferred to the Kibi Government Hospital for treatment and were discharged on October 4.
The bodies of the deceased have been deposited at the hospital mortuary pending preservation and autopsy.
Court grants 11 suspects bail
The 11 accused persons were arraigned before the Osino District Court Monday October 5,2026 presided over by His Worship Salifu Bugri Azagiba.
Defence lawyer Francis Polley pleaded for bail, arguing that the violence was linked to an ongoing dispute over control of the Nawara Mining concession.
He told the court that another company was attempting to take over the large-scale concession following the purported termination of Nawara Mining Company’s mining lease, a matter which is being challenged in court.
The court granted all 11 accused persons self-recognisance bail and directed them to reappear on November 4, 2026.
The court also ordered the release of the impounded Toyota Land Cruiser after police had taken custody of its documents.
Background to concession dispute
The incident is the latest escalation in a dispute over control of the Nawara Mining concession involving Nawara Mining Company and CMS & A&A PRO Mining Company ,the company now responsible for taken care of the revoked mining concession of Nawara mining.
Nawara Mining Company maintains that its concession was taken over despite a court injunction issued on February 19, 2026, which the company says allowed it to continue operating while the substantive dispute was being determined.
According to CMS & A&A PRO Mining Company, Since the commencement of operations to protect the revoked concession invaded by illegal miners,its Formed Security Taskforce has come under many attacks.
They cited that on one occasion, the team was attacked at the concession office within the Nawara Mining Company premises.
On other occasions, the operatives were also reportedly attacked while carrying out their duties.
In August this year again, while the FOMED security operatives were carrying out their normal duties, including efforts to retrieve an excavator allegedly being used for illegal mining activities on the concession, a group of individuals reportedly mobilised and confronted the security team at Akyem Hemang.
According to the operatives, the individuals were armed with clubs, machetes, metal objects and firearms and allegedly attacked the team in an attempt to prevent them from carrying out their duties.
