The Ghana Police Service has issued a warrant for the arrest of Kwame Ato Asare Ani for his involvement in a viral video in which police officers who are allegedly engaged in galamsey are threatened. Ani talked from a hiding place.
Asare Ani asserted that he was a police informant and not an armed robber, contrary to what a police statement claimed, during an appearance on Kevin Taylor‘s Loud Silence TV program on April 2, 2023.
When asked why, as an informant, he felt the police were chasing him, he responded that their disagreement stemmed from money he had obtained on their behalf but refused to return.
He said the amount in question was GH¢100,000 (one billion old cedis) which he had taken from some illegal miners for onward transfer to the police.
“The actual reason the police are after me is that they sent me to collect one billion (GH¢100,000.00) from a site at Kwakukrom but I refused to hand over the money to them. That is the reason why they are angry with me,” he said.
He explained why he held the money: “I didn’t give the money because I felt cheated after working with them all this while. They were only giving me small sums of thousand or two thousand every time…
“It is because of the one billion I took and failed to give to them that they are accusing me of being a robber. But I am not an armed robber, nobody can prove that I have ever robbed their site. Sarfo (Axim Police Commander) told me to bring the one billion before they will release my car and other machines which they have seized,” he said.
GhanaWeb on Sunday, April 2, 2023, reported about a viral video in which a supposed leader of the gang is seen accosting a police officer and accusing the officer of attempting to arrest him after he had given him money.
Subsequently, the Ghana Police Service later on Sunday released a statement which said it arrested some four men on March 28 after the Axim Divisional Police Patrol Team reported an attack on them by a gang.
According to the police, it also conducted a search at the residence of Kwame Asare where some weapons and other items were retrieved.
“On March 9, this year, the Axim Divisional Police patrol team reported an attack on the team by a gang that seized the magazine of a Service rifle together with some mobile phones belonging to the Police officers.
“An intelligence operation was immediately launched after the report to get the suspects arrested.
“On March 28, 2023, after about three weeks of the intelligence operation, four men, Kojo Siah alias Mozey; Emmanuel Mensah alias Kofi Asamoah, Maxwell Cudjoe and Agyabu Haruna Dissawu were arrested for their suspected involvement in the attack.
“A search conducted at the residence of Kwame Ato Asare Ani, the prime suspect, who is still on the run, led to the retrieval of three pump-action shotguns.
“Also, one pump-action shotgun, machetes and eight BB refilled cartridges were retrieved from the suspect’s unregistered Honda CRV vehicle. Other items retrieved from the suspects include two live refilled BB cartridges and one unregistered motorbike,” the police statement said.
The statement added that the police became aware of the video showing the confrontation between some police officers and the arrested gang in which the police were pleading with the gang members over an extortion allegation.
According to the statement, the allegation of extortion has since been referred to the Police Professional Standards Bureau (PPSB) for investigation.
In the said video, the leader of the gang is heard shouting at a group of police officers saying “You asked me to show you something and I showed it to you. Now I ask you to drop me the car and you insist that you are sending me away. Where were you sending me to? You came to demand money at the site and we gave you everything. After that, I asked you to drop me from the car and yet you insisted on sending me. So, if I had not asked someone to block the road with a motorbike you would have sent me away,” the gang leader is heard furiously confronting a member of a group of police officers with a patrol car in what looked like a forest.
As the confrontation raged on, the leader of the gang is heard shouting various commands at his group while the police officers bend on their knees pleading.
“Kwame we beg you,” one of the officers states as he held on to his rifle from being taken away from him by the gang leader.