The Nasarawa State Police Command has detained 109 suspected illegal miners in the Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Area of the state.
Speaking while parading the suspects at the police area command in Lafia, the state capital, on Tuesday, the state Commissioner of Police, Umar Nadada, said the suspects were apprehended after extensive efforts by officers from the command’s anti-kidnapping unit in collaboration with the Nasarawa Eggon LGA Vigilante group.
He added that the operation began from Mada station and continued to Wakama community, along the Alogani Mountain area, where kidnappers use as a haven to hold their captives until a ransom is paid.
Nadada went on to say that the 109 suspects were arrested at various locations on the mountain while illegally mining solid minerals such as topaz, tin, and aquamarine, and that a dane gun, cutlasses, and knives, among other items, were recovered from the suspects as exhibits.
He said, “Yesterday, February 19, 2024, at about 6am, the anti-kidnapping unit of the command in collaboration with vigilante groups from the Nasarawa Eggon LGA engaged in a massive raid of some criminal hideouts at Alogani hills in Nasarawa Eggon LGA.
“They raided from Mada station to Wakama area to arrest suspected kidnappers. Unfortunately, some of them ran away but we were able to arrest some illegal miners, about 109 of them who are here.
“We immediately took them into custody and we have commenced an investigation. We are ready to partner with the state government to ensure that these illegal miners are profiled and then further necessary actions will follow.”
On his part, the Nasarawa State Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Yakubu Kwanta, while commending the police for arresting the suspected miners, granted pardon to them on behalf of the state government and vowed to ensure their arrest and prosecution if they continue in the dastardly act.
“We commend the Nasarawa State Command of the Nigeria Police Force under the leadership of the Commissioner of Police for this diligent operation that has apprehended these illegal artisanal miners in their hundreds. This can only be achieved with the benefit of hindsight backed by strong local experience; on behalf of His Excellency, the Executive Governor, thank you for this feat.
“On this note, I strongly put to them (suspected illegal miners) as an order and a last chance to repent from their illegal operation and form cooperative groups and get registered with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment as a first step followed by a further registration and profiling by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources for the purposes of documentation and identification of their operational status for peace and security; this they must do with the urgency it deserves before returning to their mining sites.
“This is a kind gesture in the posture of the current Administration to allow for private business development and economic empowerment for poverty reduction, but this should not be a licence for illegality,” Kwanta said.