Niger State Ministry of Mineral Resources has revealed that no fewer than 30 illegal miners have been arrested this year, reiterating that the ban on illegal mining is still in force.
The Commissioner in charge of the ministry, Garba Yahaya, who disclosed this during a briefing in Minna, yesterday, debunked a news report accusing the ministry of inaction to illegal activities in the state, insisting that the report was fake and malicious.
The report had it that the ministry looked away while a fight among hooligans opposite Maitumbi illegal mining site, along Julius Berger Quarry, claimed one life to the death of one person.
Yahaya argued that the incident did not happen at the mining site, and maintained that the ministry had no link with the mining activities as alleged by the story, describing it as an attempt to tarnish the image of the ministry. He said: “The narrative of the whole issue began a month ago when the ministry was informed of illegal mining activities in a community along Julius Berger Quarry in Maitumbi.”
The ministry visited the site and invited the elders, landowners, and youth leaders of the area. As a result, the miners obeyed the instruction of the ministry and vacated the site.”
The commissioner revealed that the challenges confronting the ministry included a shortage of manpower that would man the area offices across the 25 local councils of the state, pointing out that the arrangement had reached an advanced stage for the recruitment of desk officers to enable the ministry to perform optimally.
He, however, noted that the ministry was making frantic efforts to arrest illegal mining in the state, calling on the general public to distance themselves from any news with the potential of causing trouble in the society.
In a related development, the Commander, Hunters Association of Nigeria, Niger State chapter, Abdullahi Dantsoho, had lamented that aside from the activities of illegal miners, terrorists and other criminal elements also used the mining sites as a cover-up to perpetrate their nefarious acts.
He added: “We once mobilised our men to confront some terrorists in one of the mining sites, but the sophisticated weapons used by the terrorists made us retreat. I am, therefore, bringing this to the notice of relevant authorities concerned to take proactive measure and beam their searchlight to the mining sites across the state to protect life and property.”
