The federal government has charged to court suspected illegal miners arrested in Kogi and Ondo states during a recent operation led by the Mining Marshals.
The action is part of ongoing efforts to sanitise the mining sector.
The operation, code-named “Operation Hayakin Kogo,” took place in the Ikah Community of Ankpa LGA, Kogi State, and resulted in the arrest of two Chinese nationals and a Nigerian for engaging in mining activities in violation of existing mining regulations.
In a related development, the Mining Marshals also raided an illegal gold mining site in the Ogunlepa, Oluwa Forest Reserve, Odigbo LGA of Ondo State, where four suspects were arrested. These individuals, caught in the act of illegally mining gold in a Government Reserved Area, confessed during interrogation that they lacked the necessary licences or authorisation to carry out their operations.
The suspects from both Kogi and Ondo states have since been charged to the Federal High Court, Abuja.
LEADERSHIP recalls that the 2,570-strong Mining Marshals were specially trained and drawn from the ranks of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
The minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, initiated the idea of the mining police as part of his seven-point agenda, which hinged on sanitising and reforming the mining sector.
In a statement by his media assistant, Segun Tomori, made available to journalists Monday, the minister reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to eliminating illegal mining in the country by bolstering the operations of the Mining Marshals with the infusion of technology and imminent satellite monitoring of mining sites.
He urged those still involved in illegal mining activities to turn a new leaf and comply with the relevant sections of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act (NNMA) to regularise their operations, as he stated that the federal government was resolved to punish those breaching the mining laws.
