According to Minister of Solid Minerals Development Dele Alake, some influential Nigerians fund banditry and illegal mining.
Alake said that wealthy Nigerians are responsible for the instability in regions of the nation with substantial mineral deposits when he testified before the House Committee on Solid Minerals to support the Ministry’s projected budget for 2024.
In an effort to guarantee that the regions are protected for investors who have expressed interest in investing in the nation’s solid minerals sector, he added, the government is identifying those people and would take appropriate action against them.
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Alake said; “One discovery that we have made is that a lot of these insecurities and banditry associated with this sector are sponsored by illegal miners.
“These are not your artisan miners. They are not the people who pick gold on the ground. These are heavy and powerful individuals in our country. They are Nigerians and not foreigners.
“Yes, you can see foreigners as symptoms, but they are not the basics. Nigerians are the powers behind those foreigners that you see on the streets. We are identifying them and employing various strategies, both kinetic and non-kinetic.
“The non-kinetic with that artisan miners, I gave them an ultimatum that they should form themselves into cooperatives because every Nigerian has a right to life and necessities and if the government cannot provide these necessities, we cannot push them into the bush.”
