The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, has reiterated the federal government’s unwavering commitment to sanitising the extractive sector, declaring that there will be no safe haven for illegal miners or their wealthy backers anywhere in Nigeria.
Alake’s stern warning followed a coordinated enforcement operation by a joint task force that dismantled an illegal artisanal mining camp at Ileki-Ijesa, along the busy Ile-Ife/Ilesa Road in Osun State, resulting in the arrest of two suspects.
Reacting to the development on Sunday through a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Lara Owoeye-Wise, Alake made it clear that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration has made cleaning up the mining ecosystem an absolute national priority.
He highlighted how beefed-up security structures are aggressively reversing years of unregulated exploitation, stating, “The establishment of the Mining Marshals has significantly strengthened the government’s enforcement capacity, leading to the arrest of more than 300 illegal miners and the prosecution of over 150 suspects, including foreign nationals, while several illegal mining sites have been shut down across the country.”
Alake, who also chairs the continental African Mineral Strategy Group (AMSG), explained that the current domestic iron-fist approach is tied to a larger continental vision of preserving local wealth and ensuring transparent, accountable mineral governance.
However, the Minister pointed out that the government cannot fight the battle alone and strongly appealed to grassroots community leadership to protect their domains.
“Illegal mining destroys the environment, fuels insecurity, deprives the nation of legitimate revenue and undermines the livelihoods of law-abiding miners,” Alake warned. The government cannot win the fight against this menace alone. Communities must become active partners in protecting their mineral resources.”
The raid was a lightning operation carried out by officials from the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development across its Southwest zonal offices—specifically Ogun, Oyo, and Osun—acting in lockstep with regional security forces.
The enforcement team swooped on the artisanal camps after receiving actionable intelligence. Although some illegal miners fled into nearby bushes upon spotting security operatives, two casual workers—identified as Danladi Isa and Musa Kabiru, both in their twenties—were apprehended at the scene. Investigators confirmed that the duo are cooperating and providing useful information to help unmask the real financiers behind the illicit pit operations.
The Southwest Zonal Mines Officer, Mr. Ajibade Ganiyu, who led the field enforcement, described the raid as part of a continuous, aggressive surveillance net being cast over the region to restore strict compliance with the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act.
Echoing the Minister’s resolve in the field, the Osun State Mines Officer, Mr. Wasiu Adeboye, cautioned that the era of treating mineral thieves with kid gloves is over.
“The operation sends a clear message that illegal mining will no longer be tolerated,” Adeboye noted. “Sponsors, financiers and perpetrators of the illicit trade will continue to face the full weight of the law.”
The joint task force dismantled the camp’s major operational structures and sealed off the mining site in accordance with statutory guidelines. Industrial and artisanal tools abandoned by the fleeing suspects were also confiscated. Items recovered from the site include Lister electricity generators, gold-trapping carpets, pumping machines, washing equipment, large hose pipes, motorcycles, cutlasses, and various local digging implements.
Ministry officials concluded that the sweeping enforcement across the country’s mineral corridors remains entirely irreversible as the federal government prepares to reposition the mining sector as a central pillar of national economic growth.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
