Niger State Special Taskforce On Illegal Mining has arrested 41 suspected illegal miners, in Minna, the state capital.
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LEADERSHIP gathered that the suspects were arrested in plots allocated for residential buildings and other development purposes, which they were mining without the permission of the owners.
Those arrested were mining gold into houses belonging to people in areas not designated in the state’s mining cadastral map.
Commissioner for Mineral Resources in the state, Alhaji Garba Sabo Yahaya who led the taskforce, confirmed the arrests to LEADERSHIP.
Alhaji Yahaya said the illegal miners were causing severe environmental degradation in the state capital.
Details later…
