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| Illegal poachers shoot two Forestry Commission guards – CEO |
Illegal poachers shot and wounded two guards of the Forestry Commission (FC) in two separate incidents ahead of Christmas, John Allotey, Chief Executive Officer of the FC, confirmed recently.
Mr. Allotey said this at a press briefing, Thursday, 22nd December, adding that one of the incidents happened in the Bomfobiri Game Reserve in the Ashanti region on the night of Tuesday.
He said the second incident occurred at the Shai Hills Game Reserve near the capital on the night of Wednesday.
“In the incident at the Bomfobiri Game Reserve, the forest guard was shot in the chest when he and his colleagues attempted to ward off the intruders into the game reserve. He is receiving treatment at the Kumawu Government Hospital,” said Mr. Allotey.
The CEO added that in the incident at the Shai Hills, “the guard was shot in the thigh and was receiving treatment at the Tema General Hospital.
Mr. Allotey added that two suspects in the Shai Hills incident had been arrested, their weapons seized, and were assisting the police in their investigations.
“We will not tolerate these attacks on our workers by illegal poachers, so we have instructed the forest guards to defend themselves. We have armed them and continue to train them in weapon handling. From now on, they will defend themselves when they come under attack,” he stated.
He cautioned poachers to desist from intruding into protected game reserves for poaching because the guards were armed to protect the reserves and the endangered species.
Source|ernesteast.blogspot.com