As part of efforts to combat illegal mining in Nigeria, the federal government has ordered an immediate shutdown of a newly discovered illegal gold mine in Yagba East Local Government Area of Kogi, a state in the North central region of Nigeria.
This was made known in a statement by the country’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, who stated that the government was committed to bringing an end to the illicit practice while protecting the interest of the mineral resources sector and boosting the country’s overall economic profile.
According to the statement which was signed by the Minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Segun Tomori on Friday in Abuja, Mining marshals in Iyeh Odogbe, Isanlu community of Yagba East LGA launched a counter operation on illegal miners, leading to the arrest of seven suspects who have been identified as leaders of various groups of illegal miners in the area.
Tomori stated that the operation involved dislodging illegal miners whose activities have prevented lawfully authorised miners with licenses covering four cadastral units from accessing the site for 16 years adding that the illicit practice had prevailed in the area for over 20 years, according to reports.
“The nationwide onslaught of the Federal Government against illegal mining has gathered momentum with the arrest of several suspects allegedly involved in the illegal mining of gold in Yagba East LGA, Kogi State,” the statement read in part, adding that, while the operation was led by Attah Onoja who is the Commander of the Mining Marshals in the area is, the site workers had been given five days to completely vacate the site, as operations to effectively secure the area and ensure its full recovery for lawful mining activities would continue in earnest.
“The operation, carried out by the mining marshals in Iyeh Odogbe, Isanlu community of Yagba East LGA, involved dislodging illegal miners whose activities have prevented lawfully authorised miners with licences covering four cadastral units from accessing the site for 16 years. Reports indicate that the nefarious activities have gone unhindered for over 20 years,” he stated.
Prior reports indicate that the Federal Government, on July 12, announced the arrest of eight Chinese nationals suspected of illegal mining at Lokpaukwu community, Umuchieze, within Umunneochi Local Government Area of Abia State.
Meanwhile, illegal mining has remained an age-long practice in the country and the Nigerian government is continually seeking ways to bring an end to the menace once and for all.
Illegal mining has its way of crumbling a nation’s economic profile as it distorts the expected seamless flow of trends in the sector and ultimately impacts the activities of licensed businessmen and women in the sector.
For a country like Nigeria which leverages its natural resources for economic growth and stability, illegal mining of such resources is highly detrimental to the welfare of both the government and the populace as efforts made towards fostering development in the sector amongst others would continually experience stunted growth and negatively impact the economy.
This forms a rising concern for businesses in the sector and amongst people of various social classes and the government.
