Guinean authorities have charged 60 individuals with offences including arson, theft, and murder following a deadly riot at the Weily Mining site in the northeastern gold-rich Siguiri region, prosecutors announced on Friday.
According to Siguiri’s public prosecutor, Ibrahima I. Camara, violence erupted on October 4 after residents demanded the release of 17 people detained over an earlier act of vandalism at the same mine. Protesters stormed the site, setting fire to 10 buses, two pickup trucks—including one belonging to the gendarmerie—and two buildings. Two people were killed and several others injured during the unrest.
Those arrested face charges of voluntary arson, destruction of property, and complicity in murder. Authorities said the investigation will be carried out jointly by the police and gendarmerie.
Weily Mining, which began exporting gold from its Niagassola mine in September 2024, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The incident underscores rising tensions in Siguiri, a region that hosts several large open-pit mines operated by AngloGold Ashanti and is frequently affected by illegal artisanal mining activities.
Guinea, home to the world’s largest bauxite reserves and vast iron ore deposits at Simandou, has experienced increasing unrest at mining sites amid a government crackdown on regulatory violations. The military junta, which seized power in 2021, has been renegotiating mining contracts and accelerating project development in an effort to boost state revenues from the country’s natural resource wealth.
Source:Africa Publicity
