GNAT Demands Probe After Headteacher, Three Others Allegedly Assaulted by Soldiers in Adiewoso

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The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) is demanding a full-scale investigation after a headteacher and three others were allegedly assaulted by military personnel from the 2nd Battalion, Apremdo-Takoradi, during an operation in Adiewoso on April 30, 2026.

According to GNAT, the incident occurred in the early hours of Thursday, April 30, when soldiers allegedly besieged the town and beat several male residents, including Mr. Ansah Acheampong, the headteacher of Adiewoso M/A Basic School, and the husband of one of the female teachers who had visited his wife.

GNAT says the three teachers and the husband identified themselves as school staff and presented their GNAT membership cards, but were still subjected to beatings and molestation. The soldiers are reported to have commented that teachers should instead advise residents against illegal mining in the Ghana Rubber Estate Limited (GREL) plantation.

The operation was reportedly carried out after a confrontation on *Tuesday, April 28*, between soldiers and illegal miners operating on GREL’s rubber plantation near Adiewoso. GNAT says while GREL has the right to protect its concession, the military’s actions violated the fundamental rights of innocent residents.

“Why must everyone in the town suffer unjustly because some people provoked the military?” Mr. Daniel Mensah, Wassa West Vice Chairman of GNAT, said at a press conference. “The soldiers should have identified the galamseyers and dealt with them according to law, not taken the law into their own hands.”

GNAT is calling on the Minister for Interior, Chief of Army Staff, Western Regional Coordinating Council, Commander of 2BN Apremdo-Takoradi, Western and Western Central Regional Police Commanders, Agona Nkwanta District Police Commander, Abura Police Station Officer, and GREL Management to collaborate on an investigation and ensure perpetrators are prosecuted.

The association also acknowledged Tarkwa Nsuaem MP Hon. Issah Taylor, MCE Hon. Ebenezer Cobbinah, and Municipal Education Director Ms. Catherine Andoh Mensah for visiting the affected teachers on the day of the incident.

Headteacher Mr. Ansah Acheampong and other GNAT executives also spoke at the press conference.