The Alliance for Gbane Development, a registered association of natives of Gbane, a mining community in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region, has raised concerns over growing insecurity and threats to lives and property resulting from the actions of a popular small-scale miner.
The Association, with the support of the Chief and opinion leaders of Gbane, youth leaders, and Assembly Members, said recent actions by Zongdaan Boyak Kolog, a small-scale miner known popularly as Poloo, are a threat to the safety, peace, and stability of the Gbane Mining Site area.
According to them, some armed men linked to factions in the Bawku conflict are being hired by the embattled small-scale miner and brought into the community to protect a concession he claims to own, although the area has been leased to a large-scale mining company. "On January 25th and 26th, 2025, Poloo, in the company of his associates, some of whom are strongly believed to be armed bandits from Bawku, visited the community mining area and, without any provocation, fired gunshots sporadically, leading to people doing legitimate businesses running for their lives," the group told journalists at a press briefing in Gbane.
They further stated that "as if that were not enough, Poloo, for the second time, organized a group of armed bandits again, believed to have been hired from Bawku to protect what he claims to be his mining concession here in Gbane.
