FG prosecutes suspected illegal miners in Kogi, Ondo

The Federal Government has announced the prosecution of suspected illegal miners arrested in Kogi and Ondo states as part of efforts to clean up the mining sector.

The initiative, called ‘Operation Hayakin Kogo’, took place in the Ikah Community of Ankpa Local Council, Kogi State, resulting in the arrest of two Chinese and a Nigerian for illegal mining activities.

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, explained that mining marshals raided an illegal gold mining site in the Ogunlepa, Oluwa Forest Reserve, Odigbo Local Council of Ondo State, and arrested four suspects.

In a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Segun Tomori, the minister noted that the suspects from both Kogi and Ondo states have since been charged to the Federal High Court, Abuja.

The 2,570 mining marshals, specially trained and drawn from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) ranks, are part of the minister’s seven-point agenda to reform the mining sector.

The minister reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to eliminating illegal mining by improving the operations of the marshals through technology and satellite monitoring of mining sites.

He urged those still involved in illegal activities to comply with the relevant sections of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act (NNMA) and regularise their operations, stressing that the Federal Government is determined to enforce the law.