At least over 500 illegal miners who penetrated from the northern part of the country into an authorized local camp in Ondo State have been arrested.
Silas Godwin, the Mine Officer in charge of Ministry of Mines and Steel Development in Ondo state confirmed the arrest of the suspects to journalists in Akure.
He explained that the Special Mines Surveillance Taskforce bursted the location of the suspects at Ile-Oluji area of Okeigbo in the state.
He said the illegal activities of the suspects was noticed based on the intelligence information obtained from the members of the communities who had been lamenting the damages done on their lands.
Mr. Godwin explained that no responsible government wil watch its land being destroyed and degraded by unauthorized persons seeking personal gain and benefits.
“By the time we got the information, we move into the site and we arrested them working without the Ministry of Mines backing law.
“From the information we got from them now, they said they are looking for Gold but we will get to verify this by the time we commence Investigation”.
Godwin affirmed that both the state and federal government was ready to take appropriate step to stop illegal gold mining anywhere in the country.
According to him, illegal mining has become a source of worry to the government and if not properly checked it can lead to both environmental and human health problems.
“Anybody that want to go into mining should know that it must be backed by law and due process because there are laid down guidelines for them to venture into mining”.
He added that those arrested in the site would be Investigated to know their sponsors, and be brought to book.
One of the suspects, Mr. Awalu Salisu nabbed by the Taskforce revealed that he was a labourer in the site and was contracted from the north for the illegal mining job.
