Resurgence of illegal miners heightens security tension in Akoko Edo communities

The two rustic communities of Ikpeshi and Atte, in Akoko Edo Local Area of Edo State, are sitting on the edge as illegal solid minerals miners, who took a literary holiday, having been ejected from Dagbala community in March this year, have relocated to the two new communities in continuation of their illegal activities.

The presence of the illegal miners in their hundreds in the rural communities is raising fresh anxiety in the entire local council as there has been an influx of people from different states, thus raising security concerns in the locality.

The illegal miners, who were hitherto ordered to vacate gold and other solid minerals sites in Dagbala community, a source at Atte said, had come back in a more aggressive way, carrying out their illegal activities with impunity and had also commenced the same operations in Ikpeshi.

With the new development, licensed miners, who had to vacate their mine sites in Dagbala, following the influx of the illegal miners in March this year, have equally raised fresh alarm over the activities of the illegal miners, asking the government to protect genuine investors in the mining industry.

Another source from Ikpeshi community, while speaking to reporters on the illegal mining activities in the locality, hinted that such an illegal business could not have thrived without the connivance of some top officials of the Federal Ministry of Mines, attached to the Zonal Mining Office, Benin.

The source, who did not want his name in prints, alleged that a top official of the ministry had relocated to the communities to personally supervise the illegal mining.

Confirming the presence of the illegal miners, a security aide to Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, Haruna Yusuf, assured that the governor would not sit and watch illegal miners driven from Dagbala, return to any other part of the state, adding “my attention was drawn to it on Monday.”

“We have chased away all the people from Dagbala gold sites and our eagle eye security men are on the lookout. We want peace and security in Edo state. I was just told about Ikpeshi and we are going to take necessary actions,” Yusuf assured.

When contacted, the Zonal Mines Officer, South/South and Federal Mines Officer in charge of Edo State, Abudulkadir Usman Adamu, denied any involvement of his ministry with illegal miners.

Adamu, however, advised interested miners seeking to obtain a license to discuss with the communities where the minerals are deposited before embarking on such exercise.

“I don’t know what to say when people make such allegations. It is my duty to go round every day and I move around. I am not supposed to be in the office. Even now what we are strategizing to go back to Edo North because that is the most pronounced area in terms of mineral resources,” he hinted.

On the activities of illegal miners in Ikpeshi, Adamu said he was not aware of the development until the journalist drew his attention to it.

“You people are just giving me new information now. You see, the issue of illegal mining is not something you sit down and curtail. What we tell people is that as soon as you get your license, mobilize to the site,” he added.

It would be recalled that licenced solid mineral prospectors had in March raised alarm over the activities of illegal miners, especially in Dagbala, and called on the Federal Ministry of Mine to halt the activities of the illegal miners, which they described as wicked and against genuine miners, in addition to constituting environmental degradation when the illegal miners refused to do reinstatement after.

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