After Informant247 report, Kwara govt, NSCDC boss storm Kakanfu, move to stop illegal mining
…we’ve arrested 80 illegal miners: EFCC
The Kwara State Government has started moves to stop the illegal mining activities in Kakanfu, Pategi Local Government Area following The Informant247’s exposé published three weeks ago.
A state government delegation led by the State Commissioner for Solid Minerals Development, Hon. Abdulquawiy Olododo, visited the community this week to conduct an on-the-spot assessment, this medium gathered.
According to a statement by the Ministry’s Press Secretary, Oluwakemi Ogundeji, the Commissioner was accompanied by the Commandant of the Kwara Command of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Umar Mohammed.
The statement said the commissioner was at the community to get a first-hand information on the illegal mining site for further necessary action that would be of benefit the state.
The Informant247 had in an investigative report published on September 5 revealed that several illegal miners in possession of hard drugs, guns and explosives dig underground in a large-scale search for Lithium with no oversight and few safety measures. The illegal activity has been on-going for about two years before the report.
The commissioner had earlier before his visit to Kakanfu met with the Ilorin Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) Zonal head, Mr. Michael Nzekwe.
Olododo reiterated the state government’s commitment to collaborate with the anti-graft agency in tackling illegal mining of natural minerals in the state.
He said that the state government was firmly in support of what the EFCC was doing particularly, in its efforts in checking unauthorised mining activities and other economic crimes in the state.
“The government is not unaware of the challenges you are facing in carrying out this arduous task.
“This administration is determined to compliment your efforts as it is focused on how to properly organise and harness the potentials in the mining sector to attract local and foreign investors,” he said.
Responding to this, the EFCC head narrated how intelligence had revealed the operation of illegal mining sites across the state and the efforts of the EFCC to check the menace.
According to him, this culminated in the arrest of no fewer than 80 suspected illegal miners with truckloads of assorted minerals within the last ten months.
“It is alarming the rate at which the resources of the state are being plundered by artisan/illegal miners. If the resources are channeled through the right sources and put into good use, they are enough to sustain the economy of the state and make it self-reliant.”
He noted that Kwara was enormously endowed with mineral deposits and the resources available in the 16 Local Government Areas of the state were enough to turn it to a ‘small London’, if properly harnessed.
He added that the fight against corruption particularly illegal mining required the support of every individual for it to succeed.
KEY FINDINGS OF THE INFORMANT247 INVESTIGATION ON KAKANFU ILLEGAL MINING OPERATION:
1. It is a large-scale illegal mining operation that involves thousands of miners;
2. Most of these illegal miners take hard drugs and are in possession of dangerous weapons which include explosives and guns, which threaten the state’s security;
3. Security operatives and local authorities take bribes to aid the illegal trade;
4. Deaths and injuries are common in the mining fields;
5. The mining activities expose local communities to several levels of toxic chemicals and severe environmental degradation;
6. Children have withdrawn from school to work in the mining field in violation of Nigeria’s mining code;
7. The investigation traced and revealed one of the biggest sponsors of the illegally extracted mineral: a powerful Chinese-owned company that has over the years been evading and underpaying taxes.
You can read the story here:
INVESTIGATION | Lithium at any cost: Bribery, abuses, deaths – the dark side of Nigeria’s illegal mining
Watch documentary here:
INVESTIGATION | SILENT LOOT | Exposing the dark alliances: Illegal mining, complicit authorities and shadowy sponsors
