IPNews-Monrovia,Liberia-8 May 2018: The Liberia Immagration Service-LIS, has arrested at least 67 aliens and illegal miners during Surveillance Border patrol operations at various gold mining camps in Grand Kru County.
The Surveillance Border Operations, which was headed by Col. Hendris Daye, of the Liberia Immigration Service (LIS), arrested the foreign gold miners, mainly Ghanaians, who had disrupted mining activities and sparked a widespread letup in the County.
According to the Liberian news Agency-LINA, the LIS compass man, Prince Tobee of Surveillance Border Operations, said they have submitted a preliminary report to the headquarters of LIS in Monrovia regarding the aliens who are currently being detained in Sasstown.
Tobee said the operation confirms continued reports of illegal entry of aliens into Liberia from various bordering counties including Grand Kru County, supposedly in search of gold and diamond, a situation which has drawn the attention of local authorities.
Captain Tobee: “We have observed that these foreign nationals came in the country with lots of mining equipment.”
Additionally, Tobee said Surveillance Border Operations is continuing and is expected to formally end any time soon but indicated there are lots of border patrols which needs to be carryout to curb influx of aliens into the country.
In a related development, the leader of the Ghanaian community in Sasstown, only known as Nana, has assured officers of the LIS and the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy, of the community cooperation in identifying illegal aliens into the county.
He said 50 of the arrested aliens currently at three gold mining camps are calling on the LIS to issue them all necessary documentation to enable them carryout mining activities but to no avail.
“The reason for the gold rush in Liberia is to develop our lives. We cannot be suffering in Ghana, when there is news of gold and diamond in Liberia and we can come and work to benefit our families,” Nana said.
Two weeks ago, LIS’ detachment of Grand Kru County intensified its patrols, following warnings from the agency’s Commissioner General Lemuel E. Reeves, alerting security personnel assigned in the County to stop the illegal entry of foreign nationals.
According to the tentative schedule of the Surveillance Patrol, the LIS said there will be an intensive patrol in the Sasstown region and its environs, including surveillance patrol at the Buah region.
Additionally, the scheduled patrol will include Barclayville City, the County’s political capital, and its environs. This, accordingly, will be inspected intensively, while there will be an intensive patrol of the entire Forpoh Region, where gold and diamond minerals are heavily concentrated.
It may be recalled that Grand Kru County District 2 Representative Jonathan Fonati Koffa told a news conference recently that illegal mining is on the rise in his district, a situation, he said, that poses a serious security threat to residents.
The Chairman on the House’s Committee on National Security Representative Alfred Koiwood of Gbarpolu County, via mobile phone yesterday, said, “the reported influx of illegal aliens and/or foreigners nationwide, specifically in mineral rich communities, raises concern among his colleagues, particularly law enforcement agencies, including lawmakers who are the direct representatives of the people.”
