Miner seeks FG intervention over alleged site seizure

A miner and owner of Queensec Global Resources Ltd, Mrs. Queendalene Augustine, has called on the Federal Government to intervene in an ongoing dispute with the Enugu State government over the alleged illegal seizure of her mining site.

She also appealed to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, to intervene and direct the state authorities to unseal her site.

Augustine, who disclosed this in Abuja during a press briefing, alleged that since obtaining two valid federal mining licenses, an aide to the Enugu State governor, Sam Okoro, had persistently blocked her from commencing operations.

She accused Okoro of collaborating with another mining company, African Pit and Quarry (APQ), owned by Seun Odusanya, to illegally extract coal from her site without her consent.

“To my surprise, he arranged a truck overnight using African Pit and Quarry equipment to excavate truckloads of coal and took them to a paper mill site at Eleme somewhere in Enugu and the owner of the mill was arrested after one of my colleagues, Mrs Uchechukwu Agbachi who followed it up reported it to the police,” she said.

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She revealed that the matter was reported to the Zonal Mines Office in Enugu. She also petitioned the ministry, whose intervention was to barricade the site pending proper delineation.

Augustine said: “Despite the intervention of the zonal office, Mr. Okoro went there, removed the barricades, and erected poles four meters into my site. When I visited the location, I was attacked by his hoodlums. My colleague, Mrs. Agbachi, was also arrested by his men on allegations of destroying government equipment and has been detained at the Enugu Correctional Centre since December 11.”

She called on the minister to rein in the Enugu State Government, arguing that their actions were undermining the Federal Government’s support for small-scale mining.

She noted that her firm, Queensec Global Resources Ltd, holds a five-year Small Scale Mining Lease (SSML) for sand, sandstone, shale, clay, and coal. She is also demanding for compensation in damages from another mining firm, African Pits and Quarry (APQ), for breach of contract.

In response to the allegations, Okoro denied any wrongdoing, insisting that Augustine had begun mining operations in an unapproved location.

He claimed she had been invited for verification but had repeatedly declined.