An Accra Circuit Court has granted GHC50,000 bail each to seventeen drivers who allegedly undertook sand-winning operations without a license at Agbazu, near Amasaman.

They are: Gariba Ali, Ekow Quansah aka Big Joe, Christopher Semebia, Ahmed Abdul Asit, Ahmed Abdul Basit, Sampson Asum, Kwame Appiah, Samuel Gaisie, Stephen Owusu Sekyere, and Adam Issah.

The others are Kwaku Afful, Eric Fiagbedzi, Mohammed Abdallah, Michael Kangvi, Rashid Sumaila, Suleman Mohammed, and Samuel Lavoe.

Sixteen of them were arrested, along with a loader and 13 tipper trucks.

They allegedly damaged the crops of five farmers who are also members of the Fruit and Vegetable Exporters in the Central, Eastern, and Greater Accra Regions.

• Read also: Court remands 16 illegal sand winners  

The court presided over by Mr Isaac Addo revoked a bench warrant against Samuel Atsu Forson, one of the accused who the police allege was at large on August 17, 2024, when the other 16 were arraigned.

The 17 defendants have been charged with causing unlawful damage and mining without a licence.

They have pleaded not guilty.

Counsels representing the 17 accused took turns appealing for bail, arguing that the court should give them the time to prepare and present their defence in the matter.

According to the lawyers, the accused have men of substance to sign their bail, and they are cooperating with the police to arrest Samuel Atsu Forson, who had been selling sand to them.

The prosecution, led by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Kofi Anane, informed the court that the complainants, Anthony Botchway, Solomon Benjamin, George Kpoye, and Mark Achel, are farmers and members of Fruit and Vegetable Exporters in the Central, Eastern, and Greater Accra regions.

 It said that on August 8, 2024, the complainants reported that the accused unlawfully entered their farmlands in Kofi Kwei, Agbazu, and Oboman near Amasaman for sand winning, and damaged their crops.

The court heard that, based on the allegations, the police visited the farmlands, observed the accused persons' unlawful activities, and took videos at the scene.

On August 13, 2024, the police returned to the location and arrested the defendants along with a loader and 13 tipper trucks.

On August 20, 2024, police and Minerals Commission officials went to the area and discovered that portions of Golden Exotic Limited's irrigation projects had been vandalized, and ground nuts and vegetables on five other farmlands had also been destroyed.

 The matter has been adjourned until September 24, 2024.