Wakawaka Raid: Naimos Storms Back, Crushes Illegal Miners’ Comeback

The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), in collaboration with the Northern Command of the Ghana Armed Forces, conducted a major follow-up operation at Wakawaka in the Bole District of the Savannah Region after intelligence indicated that illegal miners had regrouped and resumed operations. The operation, held from 26 to 28 October 2026, aimed to consolidate gains from an earlier joint operation at Wakawaka in July 2026 and to prevent the area from reverting to sustained illegal mining activity.
The latest intervention followed intelligence indicating that some illegal miners had returned to previously disrupted locations and re-established mining infrastructure. Upon reaching the area, the joint Task Force found suspected illegal miners actively mining, further degrading the surrounding environment. Six suspected illegal miners were arrested during the operation and subsequently handed over to the Police for further investigation.
The Task Force also seized a generator plant, an air compressor, mining materials, water hoses, a saw machine, hammers, rubber mats, a solar panel and other equipment associated with the mining operations. Personnel also destroyed seven air compressors and 58 makeshift structures, significantly degrading the infrastructure available to illegal miners.
The October operation builds on the major joint enforcement action at Wakawaka in late July 2026, when NAIMOS, the Northern Command of the Ghana Armed Forces, and the Savannah Division of the Ghana Police Service dismantled extensive illegal mining infrastructure in the area.
The return of illegal miners to the area after the July operation demonstrates the persistent nature of the threat and reinforces the need for repeated enforcement, surveillance and follow-up operations at previously cleared sites. For NAIMOS, the renewed operation illustrates an important principle of its current enforcement strategy: clearing an illegal mining site is not the end of an operation. Areas previously cleared will continue to be monitored, and where intelligence indicates that miners have returned, NAIMOS and its partner security agencies will conduct follow-up operations to prevent the re-establishment of illegal mining infrastructure.
The Secretariat has increasingly adopted a clear, monitor and return approach, aimed at denying illegal miners the opportunity to simply wait for security personnel to leave before rebuilding their operations. The Wakawaka operation shows that illegal miners returning to previously cleared locations should expect further enforcement action.
NAIMOS is encouraging communities to provide timely information on the return of illegal miners, the movement of heavy equipment, and the reconstruction of mining infrastructure in previously cleared areas. NAIMOS remains committed to sustaining pressure on illegal mining networks nationwide and consolidating gains from previous enforcement operations.