NAIMOS and military arrest six suspected illegal miners at Wakawaka in Bole District

Six suspected illegal miners have been arrested at Wakawaka in the Bole District of the Savannah Region, months after security forces first cleared mining activity from the same area.

According to a statement from the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), reported by MyJoyOnline, the operation took place between Monday, October 26, and Wednesday, October 28, 2026. It was carried out jointly with the Northern Command of the Ghana Armed Forces.

NAIMOS said its task force found the suspects actively mining at the site and causing further damage to the surrounding environment. The six have been handed over to the police for investigation. They have not been named, and no charges had been announced at the time of reporting.

Equipment seized and destroyed

The team seized a generator, an air compressor, water hoses, a saw machine, hammers, rubber mats and a solar panel, among other mining tools. It also destroyed seven air compressors and 58 makeshift structures found at the site.

Miners returned after July clearance

This is not the first operation at Wakawaka. In July 2026, a joint team of NAIMOS, the Northern Command and the Savannah Division of the Ghana Police Service dismantled mining infrastructure there. According to NAIMOS, miners had since returned and rebuilt their structures.

The repeat raid points to a difficulty enforcement agencies face in many mining areas: sites that are cleared are often reoccupied once security teams move on. For nearby communities, illegal operations raise concerns about damaged farmland, open pits and polluted water sources.

The Wakawaka arrests follow a police operation last week at Gbane in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region, where 16 people were arrested at a mining site, as TheSavannaOnline reported.

The NAIMOS statement, as reported, did not say whether security personnel would remain at the Wakawaka site.

Source: MyJoyOnline — https://www.myjoyonline.com/naimos-arrests-six-suspected-illegal-miners-in-savannah-region/