About 100 illegal miners suspected to have migrated from the Sahel Savannah region of Africa have been arrested by the Cross River State government for allegedly invading Yakurr local government area communities.
Findings by LEADERSHIP revealed that the illegal miners were apprehended during a sting operation led by the State’s Security Adviser, Major General Okoi Obono (rtd), on Saturday.
The young men suspected to be non-Nigerians stormed the Yakurr communities in numbers but they ran out of luck as they were subsequently overpowered by security operatives who were assisted by some locals while trying to escape from a checkpoint which is a stone throw to Ugep community in Yakurr local government area of the state.
A local, Ephraim Ofem, who claimed to have been around as of the time the suspects were arrested, stated that the suspects were said to have boarded several empty trucks which drove pass through the area from northern part of the state and were bound for Calabar, the state capital.
“I think the young men apprehended by the authorities are between the ages of 20 to 27 years. They were arrested with diggers, shovels, and earth drilling machines.
“These people are not Nigerians even though some claimed to be Nigerians. These guys are suspected to have come from Chad, Niger and probably Sudan.
“They are sponsored by faceless individuals to invade our community. They are not only found here, I am told confidently that they are also in Akamkpa local government area, around the National Park axis, always armed with AK-47 riffles during mineral exploitation,”Ofem claimed.
Effort to get the State’s Security Adviser to speak on the development failed as his telephone line was not reachable at press time.
However, reacting to the arrest, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Cross River State, SP Irene Ugbo, said, “Yes, it’s true that the illegal miners had been arrested by the Cross River State government.
“They are going to be profiled and those without papers would be repatriated back to wherever they are coming from.”
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