Colonel Dominic Buah, the Director of Operations at NAIMOS, described the recent attack on his team in Ahafo Hwidiem as “bloody,” saying they narrowly escaped death.
The NAIMOS Public Relations Officer, Paa Kwesi Schandorf, reported that Colonel Buah, who led the operation, emphasized that the team survived only by the grace of God during the violent confrontation.
“When the incident happened yesterday, having spoken to the director of operations of NAIMOS, he indicated to me that he survived clearly by the mercy of God because if you look at the intensity of the anger and how they were very much charged, he and the rest of the team would have lost their lives.
“… you should have heard him or the rest of the team narrate the incident. It was bloody, and it could have been a different story altogether,” Schandorf said in an interview on TV3 on November 2, 2025.
Watch as police rescue 9 soldiers allegedly attacked by angry Ahafo Hwidiem youth
The PRO also indicated that NAIMOS had no planned operation at Ahafo Hwidiem.
He said that the team chanced on an illegal mining operation in the community along the road while on their way to Accra after an operation.
About the attack:
According to a report by Erastus Asare Donkor, ten military officers who are members of NAIMOS, led by their Director of Operations, conducted an operation in the Ahafo Region on Saturday, November 1, 2025.
He indicated that while on their operation, the NAIMOS Director received information that an excavator was actively being used for mining along the roadside near Branikrom, prompting the team to move to the area and arrest the illegal miners, including a Burkinabe national.
Erastus Asare Donkor further stated that the NAIMOS team demanded the presence of the site owner at the location where the mining was being carried out.
He further explained that an individual later arrived, claiming to be a Defence Intelligence (DI) officer from the Ahafo Region, followed by another person who identified himself as the owner of the mining site. During a search of the premises, the NAIMOS team discovered various types of ammunition, along with cash and mobile phones.
Donkor added that while the operation was ongoing, Asutifi North MP Ebenezer Kwaku Addo reportedly appeared at the scene with a group of alleged thugs, demanding the release of the arrested illegal miners.
