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Two illegal miners at Kibi-Ahwenease in the East Akyem Municipality of the Eastern region were on Tuesday shot by an armed robber who is suspected to have disguised himself as a desperate unemployed man seeking employment from the miners. The victims, Kwabena Boateng, 34, and Naim Nnaji, 21, are undergoing surgery at the Koforidua Government Hospital to retrieve the bullets from their forehead, waist and abdomen. Narrating the incident to the Daily Heritage at the hospital, Kwabena Boateng said the incident occurred when they were returning from the mining site with gold in a bag to the house. According to him, on their way home gunshots were heard from a distance which hit Nnaji, his colleague around the waist and buttocks. He said when he made an attempt to rescue Nnaji, a warning shot was fired and a voice ordered him to leave behind the bag containing the gold. He disobeyed the order and threw the bag into the bush, but that infuriated the robber who shot him in the face and abdomen at long range. The victim further narrated that a third person who was able to escape rushed to the house to inform the other miners who rushed to the scene and sent them to the Kibi Government Hospital and later transferred to the Koforidua Government Hospital. He said, they believe strongly that a man who visited them at the site and pretended to seek employment was responsible for the gunshot. The incident has been reported to the police who have mounted a search for the robber. The assembly member for Ahwenease-Adadientem electoral area, Boamah Darko Isaac lamented in an interview that activities of illegal miners have increased crime rate in the municipality and therefore called on the police to intensify security in the area.