The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Wassa West District, has issued a fierce condemnation following a violent military assault on three teachers and a civilian relative in Adiewoso, a community in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality.
In a press release read and signed by the Mr. Daniel Mensah, Wassa West District GNAT Vice Chairman, the Association described the incident, which occurred in the early hours of Thursday, April 30, 2026, as “barbaric, inhumane, and unfortunate.”
According to the press release addressed to the media in Tarkwa, trouble began brewing two days prior to the assault.
On Tuesday, April 28, 2026, a battalion of soldiers from 2BN in Apremdo-Takoradi were deployed to Adiewoso at the behest of Ghana Rubber Estate Limited (GREL), Agona Nkwanta.
The soldiers’ initial mission was to clamp down on illegal miners (galamseyers) who were reportedly destroying GREL’s rubber plantation near the town.
That first encounter on Tuesday resulted in a tense confrontation, but the soldiers eventually withdrew to their barracks.
However, in a dramatic and unexpected turn of events, the military men returned in the dead of night. In the early hours of Thursday, April 30, 2026, they besieged the town, subjecting male residents to severe beatings and molestation.
The victims include three staff members of Adiewoso M/A Basic School (including the headteacher) and the husband of a female teacher, who was merely visiting his wife at the time.
Despite the victims’ desperate attempts to identify themselves as educators including showing their official GNAT membership ID cards the soldiers ignored their pleas.
“Upon the teachers showing their identity to the military men, they commented: ‘You teachers should know better and advise the town folks from stopping the galamsey in the rubber plantation,’” the GNAT statement reads.
Witnesses and the victims recount that the soldiers ordered them to lie flat on the floor. They were then whipped repeatedly, sustaining deep injuries to their backs and other parts of their bodies. The soldiers also threatened to shoot them if they dared to resist.
Upon hearing the news, the GNAT district secretariat immediately contacted the affected teachers and reviewed photographic evidence of their wounds. The teachers were directed to report the matter to the nearest police station.
Following this directive, the victims reported the case to the Abura police station. They were issued medical forms and rushed to a clinic in Abura for treatment. The completed medical forms have since been returned to the police to aid in their investigation.
While GNAT acknowledges GREL’s right to deploy lawful security agencies to protect its concessions from illegal mining, the Association strongly opposes the “collective punishment” meted out to innocent citizens.
“Why must everybody in the town suffer unjustly due to the fact that some people have already provoked the military?” the release queried. “Did the soldiers forget that apart from the opinion leaders and the galamseyers, there are a few people in the town who are practicing their professions lawfully?”
The Association argues that the soldiers took the law into their own hands, failing to distinguish between criminals and law-abiding teachers who have accepted postings to groom future leaders in a deprived community.
GNAT has issued a series of urgent demands, calling on high-profile state authorities to act swiftly. The Association is demanding a full-scale investigation from:
· The Minister for Interior
· The Minister for Defence
· The Chief of Army Staff
· The Western Regional Coordinating Council
· The Commander in charge of 2BN, Apremdo-Takoradi
· The Western & Western Central Regional Police Commanders
· Management of GREL
They are demanding that the perpetrators be identified and made to face the full rigours of the criminal laws of Ghana.
Furthermore, GNAT is calling on the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly and local Nananom (chiefs) to engage GREL immediately to resolve the underlying impasse, warning that “the worst may happen to innocent people” if the situation festers.
The Association has formally requested that the Ghana Education Service (GES) Tarkwa-Nsuaem Directorate excuse the three teachers from duty for at least three weeks.
“This same period could be used to monitor the security situation in the town so that the teachers could return to work in a secure environment.”
GNAT has given authorities a strict deadline. If within two weeks the Association does not hear “favourably” from the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), GREL, and the GES, the Association warns it will “advise itself.”
Despite the gravity of the situation, GNAT took a moment to express gratitude to local leaders for their swift response, including:
· Hon. Issah Taylor (MP for Tarkwa-Nsuaem)
· Hon. Ebenezer Cobbinah (MCE, Tarkwa-Nsuaem)
· Ms. Catherine Andoh-Mensah (Municipal Director of Education)
The trio visited the injured teachers on the very day of the incident to offer sympathy and support. GNAT also thanked all members in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem and Prestea Huni Valley Municipalities for their patience and solidarity.
By Ebenezer Atiemo
