Forest guard who went missing in Sunyani Forest mysteriously found alive in Nkawkaw

Correspondence from Bono Region

A forest guard attached to the Leopard Unit of the Asukese Forest Reserve, Vitus Yourdong, who went missing during an operation to combat illegal logging in the Asukese Forest in the Suyani Forest District of the Bono Region has been found alive.

Vitus Yourdong was found with his service uniform in tatters, his two legs tied with a rope and his hands handcuffed to his back near a refuse site in Nkawkaw in the Eastern Region by a driver with Zoomlion Ghana Limited.

According to the driver, Saza Agbotiyao, they found him in that state and unconscious in the early hour of Monday, July 24 2023 near the Asona refuse site after they had gone there to dispose of rubbish.

“We found him unconscious near the Asona refuse site when we went to dispose of rubbish with his legs tied and his hands handcuffed at his back”.

Narrating events leading to his disappearance, the victim disclosed that he was captured by three illegal operators after he left his other colleagues to ease himself in the forest.

“We went to Sunyani for an operation but after the operation, I told my other colleagues I wanted to ease myself so they said they will wait for me but I was captured by three men who harassed me and took me hostage”.

Sounded very surprised when his rescuers told him he was in Nkawkaw, he added that his captors took him to a different part of the forest and kept him there for over two weeks so he thought he was still Sunyani.

“When they captured me, they took me to a different place, a cocoa forest and they only dump me here but I have been told here is Nkawkaw and I am surprised because I thought I was in Sunyani”.

Meanwhile, the victim is currently responding to treatment at the Nkawkaw Holy Family Hospital.

On July 2, 2023, Vitus Yuordong was reported missing along with his equipment, including a pump-action gun with registration number AFOO63604, a machete, and a handbag prompting an extensive search in the reserve and nearby communities to find him.