A physically-challenged lotto agent has been arrested for parading as a military officer to extort money from illegal miners in the Amansie Central District.

The 38-year-old who has been identified as Jonas Afriyie Poku from Pokukrom in the Ashanti Region was arrested upon intelligence gathered by the military on February 4, 2022.

According to a statement from the Central Command Headquarters of the Ghana Army, the suspect has been introducing himself to the miners as the Military Commander in charge of Operation Halt in Amansie Central and its environs.

“He will then threaten the illegal miners to either pay monies or have their equipment destroyed. One of the victims, Mr. Appiah Andrews of Essuowin in the Amansie West District indicated that the suspect coerced him to cooperate with his terms or have his site and machinery destroyed,” the statement read.

The statement adds that “the victim, out of fear, reached out to another illegal miner, Mr. Eric Frimpong, who also confirmed to have received similar threats from the same individual and as a result, paid an amount of GH¢5000.00 to him”.

The suspect has since been handed over to the Ashanti Regional Police Headquarters for further investigations after Military Police interrogated him.

The Central Command Headquarters of the Ghana Army, for some time has received information about some persons parading as military officers and extorting money from illegal miners.

The Command has instituted measures to deal with such unscrupulous persons whose activities are denting the prestigious reputation of the Command and the Ghana Armed Forces as a whole.

They say measures are in place to closely monitor the Central Command’s Area of Responsibility which covers Ashanti, Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regions to deal with the phenomenon.