Sefwi Wiawso (WN/R), April 7, – The Western North Regional Police Command has arrested five persons for allegedly impersonating National Security operatives and engaging in unlawful activities at Suiaboi in the Suaman District.
The suspects have been identified as Amponsah Asare Wagan, 33, Nelson Agbodzah, 28, Awedagah Norbert, 27, Francis Brefo, 35, and Benjamin Boakye, 48.
Briefing the media at the Regional Police Headquarters, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Dr Francis Kwame Tsidi, the Regional Commander, said the arrests followed intelligence received on April 2, 2026, at about 1800 hours.
He said the Police had information that a group of men, dressed in security attire and claiming to be National Security operatives, were moving through Suiaboi and nearby mining sites, demanding documentation and seizing items from individuals who were not actively mining at the time.
DCOP Tsidi noted that their conduct raised suspicion among community members, who confronted them, prompting swift Police intervention.
Acting on intelligence, the Police tracked the suspects, arrested them, and transported them to the Dadieso Police Station for further investigations.
Preliminary interrogation revealed that Amponsah Asare Wagan claimed to be a medical doctor, while Nelson Agbodzah and Awedagah Norbert purported to be National Security operatives attached to the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council and the Nhyeaso NADMO office respectively. Efforts are ongoing to verify the identities of the remaining suspects.
Investigations further established that Wagan allegedly recruited three of the suspects in Kumasi to undertake an unauthorised operation in the Western North Region under the guise of a security exercise.
The group reportedly hired a Toyota Hilux with registration number GX 1095-19 from LEASAFRIC, a car rental company in Kumasi, with Benjamin Boakye acting as the company’s driver.
According to the Police, the suspects initially intended to travel to Bibiani but diverted to Suiaboi, where they allegedly vandalised mining equipment, ransacked rooms belonging to workers, and made away with five mobile phones and GH¢2,000.00.
DCOP Tsidi disclosed that Wagan later confessed to being contracted by one Yaw, a former employee of the mining site, to expose the operations of his former employer.
A search conducted in the vehicle led to the retrieval of two car batteries, three water pumping machines, a starter, metal parts believed to belong to an excavator, five mobile phones, a bunch of keys, an AA live cartridge, and a pair of military camouflage trousers, all identified as items belonging to the victims.
He added that Mr Francis Duah, Transport Manager of LEASAFRIC, had provided the Police with the necessary documentation covering the vehicle and the company’s operations.
DCOP Tsidi said the suspects would be put before court upon the conclusion of investigations.
He cautioned that security agencies in the region would not tolerate acts of impersonation or lawlessness, particularly in the ongoing efforts to combat illegal mining.
GHBUSS
April 7, 2026
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