Captain (Retired) John Kwame Jabari, the acting Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, has denied any connection to a group of armed men who were arrested during a forest-security operation in the region.
Speaking in a media interview on October 2, Jabari described his limited interaction with the individuals in question and asserted they were never part of his operational teams.
“I told the commander the only people I know are the ones working with him on our joint operation.
He later sent me pictures, and I recognized three of them, they were the same men who had come to my office earlier that day.
They didn’t even tell me they were going to the forest where they were arrested.
The first and only time I saw them was that Wednesday when they came to my office,” he said.
Jabari further emphasised that his formal operations, led in partnership with bodies like the National Anti‑Illegal Mining Operations Taskforce (NAIMOS), cannot logically include covert activity by groups operating without oversight.
“It doesn’t make sense that we would be conducting official operations with NAIMOS and at the same time have our own men operating illegally in the same place.
Those arrested are not from my office,” he asserted.
He concluded by reiterating his lack of knowledge about the mission of the arrested men.
“I know nothing about their mission. They said they were visiting a friend in Obuasi, and that was the only story they told me,” Jabari added.
