The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has arrested 387 miners who were found mining inside 460 illegal mining sites discovered and dismantled within 14 months across the country.
Of the number of suspected illegal miners apprehended by the law enforcement agency, 146 persons have been arraigned before the court for prosecution in accordance with the law.
The commander of the NSCDC mining marshals, Attah Onoja, who disclosed this during an interview on Wednesday in Abuja, stated that 25 percent of the arrested suspects were foreigners, indicating 97 people.
“The lawful mineral title holders of these recovered sites have taken possession of their sites for lawful mining activity, thereby generating revenue for the Federal Government,” he said.
He also mentioned that the squad had adopted 28 ‘clearance operations’ in environments with armed bandits, areas with threats of resistance and intelligence reports about dangerous attacks based on past incidents.
“In carrying out this clearance operation, we ensure to maintain an operational standard that will give you results without necessarily having casualties, either from our own troops or the adversaries,” he said.
The commander emphasised that the operations of the mining marshals were carefully planned and executed through thorough intelligence and surveillance activities.
“It is the report of our intelligence and surveillance operation that determines the operational strategy to adopt, so while we identify illegal mining sites through intelligence and surveillance operation and at times through written petitions by displaced mineral title holders or license holders.
“There are some that warrant or demand clearance operation, especially illegal mining sites that are characterised by banditry or terrains that have no form of government presence.
“Terrains where you get to and you will not even know the country you are in because it is not close to any normal environment. Sometimes you access this terrain through motorcycles for hours and such operations do require diplomacy,” he said.
