Illegal mining raises tension in Akoko Edo communities

Tension is building up in Dagbala and Uneme-Erhurun communities of Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State over the influx of persons suspected to be of northern Nigeria extraction who are into illegal mining of gold in the localities.

The small communities, Tribune Online gathered, have been overrun by the illegal miners, who in addition to the illegal activity, also defiled women in the localities.

Residents of the communities believed that the recent spike in the incidences of kidnapping and armed robberies along the Abuja /Auchi expressway and Atte/Sasaro which is along Auchi / Igarra, were a result of a large number of Tue illegal miners, just as kidnapped victims by suspected criminal herdsmen at Okpella axis are taken to the forest at Dagbala and with the security agencies not taking appropriate actions to address the issues.

A resident confided of the area who declined to have his name in print, said that “recently, containers of sophisticated arms and dynamites have been imported into the community at night by these miners without any community member knowing about it.”

The source added that “various vehicles with Federal Government number plates have been bringing people to this community almost on a daily basis from South East, South West and Northern Nigeria.”

In his reaction to the development, the chairman of Akoko Edo Local Government Area, Don Umoru, said he held a security meeting where it was resolved that all mining activities in the community should be suspended while another meeting with the miners had been scheduled.

“We have just risen from a security council meeting now with the Dagbala community, traditional rulers and security chiefs we have put a stop to all the activities going on in Dagbala we have issued an ultimatum that they should stop all their activities then we are inviting the miners and the owners of the land for a meeting where we will look at the issues, meanwhile, we have put a stop to all their activities. Though their activities are between them, the state and the Federal Government, but the local government is their first point of contact with the government,” he added.

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