Authorities arrest 7 for illegal gold mining

The State Government of Osun has arrested seven people for illegal gold mining in Itagunmodi Community, Atakumosa West local Government area of the state.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Mineral and Natural Resources, Hon. Tunde Ajilore, accompanied by men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC),stormed the community where the illegal gold mining was taking place without recourse to public interest.

While parading the suspects, Ajilore said that the state government's effort to curb the activities of illegal miners underscored the importance of a structured biometric database of miners in the state.

While describing the damage done to the site as too enormous, he said the activities of the miners amount to economic sabotage, warning that the state government will not fold its arms and allow the situation to continue unchecked.

He said, "As a state, what we are saying is that there is need for us to know how many miners are here, a landlord who does not know how many people he's feeding will surely run bankrupt.

"For the past three months, we close the bush in order to appropriate and know the number of people that operate at the mining site. That is why we requested them to come for biometric so as to know their number. We were able to register about 6,000 miners within one and half month."

Ajilore reiterated that the government will resist all forms of illegal mining in the state, and promised that it will go all out to bring perpetrators to book in a bid to sanitise the system.

ALSO READ: FG to provide N2.5b loan facility for miners

While speaking about the fate of the arrested miners, the State Commandant of the NSCDC, Mr. Aboluwaye Akinwande, said investigation is on and anyone found culpable will be charged to court.

"Our next action is to conduct a preliminary investigation, then ensure we follow it up before charging them to court," he said.