Arrested Ghanaian activist taken to hospital for urgent care

A Ghanaian activist who was arrested for organising a three-day protest against illegal mining over the weekend has been rushed to hospital to receive urgent medical care.

Oliver Barker-Vormawor's legal team says he didn't receive timely medical attention from the police after he told them he was “seriously ill” on Tuesday.

Ghana's police denied this allegation, saying that Mr Vormawor and another protestor in custody were receiving treatment at the police hospital.

Illegal gold mining, known locally as galamsey, is rampant in Ghana and has been blamed for polluting over 60% of Ghana's water bodies.

The activist, educated at the UK's renowned Cambridge University, was arrested over the weekend along with over 40 others after they clashed with the police. He was scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.

Some protesters have said that they have been denied food and water since they were detained on Saturday.

Mr Vormawor also helped organise a similar demonstration under the hashtag #FixTheCountry to protest the cost-of-living crisis last year.

• The illegal gold mines killing rivers and livelihoods in Ghana

On Tuesday, a court in Ghana remanded 39 of the protesters in police custody, while 11 of them will remain in prison custody for two weeks.

A group of lawyers has filed a petition against the police at the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice for infringing on the rights of the protesters.

Many Ghanaians have condemned the arrest and continued detention of the protesters and are demanding their immediate release, using the hashtag #FreeTheCitizens which is now trending on social media.

One of Mr Vormawor's lawyers, Prince Ganaku expressed shock at the treatment the protesters had received.

"The behaviour of the police is reminiscent of the days of military rule, where human rights were treated as a mere suggestion," he told the BBC.

Many of the protesters were galvanised to protest against illegal mining because of the impending threat it poses.

Illegal mining has forced the country's water company to shut down water treatment plants and ration water in parts of southern Ghana.

Analysts say the country could be importing water by 2030 if nothing is done to address the issue.

President Nana Akufo-Addo has ordered the deployment of the police and the military to crack down on illegal miners. A similar approach was used in 2017 but didn’t solve the problem.

A BBC investigation discovered that most of the illegal miners had moved their operations into the dead of night, which has frustrated efforts to deal with them.