{"id":11998,"date":"2025-07-29T10:44:49","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T10:44:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/?p=11998"},"modified":"2025-07-29T10:44:49","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T10:44:49","slug":"lands-minister-demands-prosecution-of-impostors-who-locked-up-bekwai-forestry-commission-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/?p=11998","title":{"rendered":"Lands Minister demands prosecution of impostors who locked up Bekwai Forestry Commission office"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has condemned the forceful closure of the Bekwai District Office of the Forestry Commission by a group of armed men posing as National Security operatives.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mobile-menu\">\n<div class=\"mobile-header\"><i class=\"fa fa-search\"><\/i>\u00a0<span id=\"logo\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"main-logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/cropped-cropped-cropped-myjoyonline-logo-2.png\" \/><\/a><\/span><button class=\"icon icon--transparent navbar-toggler navbar-toggler-icon\" type=\"button\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" data-target=\"#navbarNavDropdown\" aria-controls=\"navbarNavDropdown\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-label=\"Toggle navigation\"><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"bodywrap\">\n<div id=\"subwindow\" class=\"frame_container\">\n<div class=\"sub_frame\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"sbwrap\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"mjo-article-leaderboard_top\" class=\"AdCompactheader\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mjo-body\">\n<div class=\"container-fluid nopadding position-relative\">\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-md-12 col-xs-12 col-lg-12 col-xl-12\">\n<div>Top Story<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-title\">\n<h1>Lands Minister demands prosecution of impostors who locked up Bekwai Forestry Commission office<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-meta\"><b>Source<\/b>:\u00a0<a>Myjoyonline<\/a><\/p>\n<div><i class=\"far fa-clock\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\u00a0 29 July 2025 8:52am<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"remixd-audio-player\"><iframe class=\"remixd-frame\" data-mobile=\"\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div class=\"vuukle-powerbar\"><iframe id=\"h-sharebar-0\" title=\"Vuukle Sharebar Widget\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vuukle.com\/widgets\/sharebar.html?version=2.22.2\" name=\"h-sharebar-0\" height=\"0\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"container article-body\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-sm-12 col-md-12 col-lg-8 col-xl-8\">\n<div class=\"position-relative share-this-item-show img-holder\"><a class=\"bgposition\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/lands-minister-demands-prosecution-of-impostors-who-locked-up-bekwai-forestry-commission-office\/?myjo\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"article-thumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/image-1629-637x424.png\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-text\" class=\"mt-3 article-text\">\n<p>The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has condemned the forceful closure of the Bekwai District Office of the Forestry Commission by a group of armed men posing as National Security operatives.<\/p>\n<div id=\"mjo-article-left_rectangle_mid\"><\/div>\n<p>In a statement on Facebook on Monday, 28th July, the Minister described the act as \u201cbrazen and unlawful\u201d and called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese acts of lawlessness should not be allowed to fester. We must preserve public peace and the credibility of our institutions,\u201d he stated. \u201cThis must serve as a strong deterrent to other unscrupulous persons who may harbour similar intentions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Minister&#8217;s remarks follow reports that over fifteen men, clad in black and wielding weapons, stormed the Bekwai Forestry Commission office earlier on Monday, locking the premises and preventing staff from working. The men claimed they were acting on \u201corders from above.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sources indicate the group\u2019s action was in retaliation to the Forestry Commission\u2019s recent clampdown on illegal mining activities within the Oda River Forest Reserve, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Bekwai office.<\/p>\n<p>The National Security Secretariat has since disassociated itself from the group. According to the National Security Coordinator, the operation was unauthorised and the individuals involved are not recognised operatives of the state security apparatus.<\/p>\n<p>National Security has subsequently directed the arrest of the suspects, stating emphatically that it does not condone such illegal actions.<\/p>\n<p>The Bekwai Police later intervened to reopen the office and escorted the impostors to the Municipal Chief Executive\u2019s office for questioning.<\/p>\n<p>The incident has reignited concerns over threats faced by Forestry Commission staff involved in anti-galamsey (illegal mining) enforcement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has condemned the forceful closure of the Bekwai District Office of the Forestry Commission by a group of armed men posing as National Security operatives. \u00a0 Top Story Lands Minister demands prosecution of impostors who locked up Bekwai Forestry Commission office Source:\u00a0Myjoyonline \u00a0 29 July [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123457,"featured_media":11999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,18],"tags":[3750],"class_list":["post-11998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-news","category-politics","tag-emmanuel-armah-kofi-buah-lands-minister"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/123457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11998"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12000,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11998\/revisions\/12000"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}