Teen miner shot dead at ‘galamsey’ site
The victim, identified as Issahaku Ansu, was reportedly engaged in “galamsey” activities at Amasu, a farming community, when he was gunned down on Sunday, August 31, 2025
A tragic shooting at an illegal gold mining site has claimed the life of a 16-year-old boy in the Dormaa East District of the Bono Region.
The victim, identified as Issahaku Ansu, was reportedly engaged in “galamsey” activities at Amasu, a farming community, when he was gunned down on Sunday, August 31, 2025.
According to the Bono Regional Police Command, which confirmed the incident in a statement signed by Chief Inspector Thomas Akeelah, officers discovered Ansu’s body bearing multiple gunshot wounds to the back, suggesting the shots were fired from concealment in a nearby bush. The sudden attack caused others at the site to flee for safety.
Police later retrieved the teenager’s body, clothed in blood-soaked boxer shorts, and deposited it at the Dormaa Ahenkro Presbyterian Hospital morgue for preservation and autopsy.
Authorities have condemned the killing as a “heinous crime” and pledged to intensify investigations to bring the perpetrators to justice.
The incident once again underscores the deadly consequences of illegal mining in Ghana. Beyond destroying farmlands, polluting rivers such as the Pra and Ankobra, and fueling clashes, galamsey continues to trap vulnerable youth who, in search of quick income, risk their lives in an unregulated and dangerous trade.
For families like that of young Ansu, the price of this national crisis has been painfully irreversible.
