Collins Dauda, the Member of Parliament for Asutifi South, has broken his silence on the confrontation between some residents of his constituency and members of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) task force.
According to Collins Dauda, he never ordered the release of any suspects arrested by the NAIMOS task force.
Speaking on Asempa FM on Monday, November 3, 2025, Collins Dauda explained, “I left Ghana to attend meetings for the Pan-African Parliament in South Africa. I received several calls from people in my constituency about the presence of some military men conducting operations.
“I asked the assemblyman to visit the site so I can speak with the leader of the team [soldiers] to give me a briefing. When the assemblyman arrived, the leader of the team [soldiers] refused to speak with me,” he narrated.
He added, “In the same moment, the Asutifi North MP [Ebenezer Addo] called me that he was coming to my constituency to attend a funeral, and so I called him, considering his higher position to visit the site so I can speak with the commander of the team and maybe the commander will not refuse to talk to me since he is an MP.”
He continued, “He had no plans of coming there but went there because of my request and demand for briefings… When he [Addo] got there, the commander agreed to speak with me. The commander said that some people were illegally mining in the area, and they had demolished the shelters. I did not say anything to him, the call dropped in the process, and I did not call him back.”
“I later heard that some angry youths had attacked the team at the police station… No. I never ordered the release of any suspects. I wasn’t even aware of any thugs going to the site. Why would I organise thugs and direct an MP to lead the thugs to go and attack them?” he said.
His comments follow reports of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS )’s crackdown on illegal mining in the Ahafo Region turned violent when officials narrowly escaped death in a mob attack.
NAIMOS officials were attacked by an angry mob in Hwediem in the Ahafo Region.
In a viral video on social media, armed police officers were spotted mounting a guard to protect the military officers amid the huge and agitated crowd.
Five of the officers were escorted into a packed 4×4 vehicle, which had reportedly been vandalised by the angry galamseyers.
The information gathered suggests the mob attack followed the soldiers’ discovery of an illegal mining site at Bronikrom near Hwidiem, where they stormed the location, arresting the site owner, confiscating two vehicles, mobile phones and two pistols and setting fire to some wooden structures and mining equipment belonging to the owner.
NAIMOS’s raid reportedly provoked some residents numbering over 600 who stormed the Hwidiem Police Station, where the soldiers had gone to lodge an official complaint.
The crowd demanded the instant release of the two seized vehicles and insisted that the police hand over the soldiers for discipline.
Joy News, Journalist Erastus Asare Donkor has revealed that Member of Parliament for Asutifi North, Hon. Ebenezer Kwaku Addo, was at the scene with several thugs.
According to the MP for Asutifi North, he was directed by Hon Collins Dauda, the MP for the area, who demanded that the Director release the arrested galamsey kingpins, including a Burkinabe.
Meanwhile, Christian Tetteh Yohuno, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), has ordered the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to take over the probe involving the attempted mob attack on the Director of Operations of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) and his team.
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