No fewer than seven persons have been arrested following their involvement in illegal mining operations at a gold site in the Yagba East Local Government Area of Kogi State.
This was revealed in a statement on Friday by Segun Tomori, the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake.
During the operation, mining marshals dislodged the illegal miners whose activities have prevented licenced miners from “accessing the site for 16 years.”
The statement read in parts, “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 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.
“The well-coordinated operation, led by Commander, Mining Marshals, Attah Onoja, resulted in the arrest of seven suspects heading different groups of illegal miners in the area.”
The statement added that “following the successful operation, site workers were given five days to completely vacate the site as operations to effectively secure the area and ensure it is fully recovered for lawful mining activities would continue in earnest.
“It will be recalled that a similar operation was carried out recently by the mining marshals in Umunneochi LG of Abia State, leading to the arrest of eight Chinese nationals and a Nigerian, suspected to be involved in illegal mining.
“The trial of the suspects commenced last week at the Federal High Court, Abuja division, and they were remanded in Kuje prison until the adjourned date.”
“The Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, under the leadership of Dele Alake, is committed to fighting the menace of illegal mining headlong and bringing culprits to book,” the statement emphasised.