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From Olanrewaju Lawal Birnin Kebbi
Kebbi State Government has suspended all mining activities in the state and directed all the security agencies in the state to ensure strict compliance with immediate effect.
Secretary to the State Government (SSG)Alhaji Yakubu Bala confirmed this during a press conference n Friday in his office.
He explained that the recent escalation of security challenges in mining sites across the state and other concerns prompted the state government to take the needful action.
The concerns, he said, include “lack of verifiable evidence of corporate social responsibilities on the part of miners, total absence of accruable revenue in the names of ecological tax and development levy for state and local government respectively, significant number of miners do not possess requisite permit by the Federal Ministry of Mines and Solid Minerals and observable environmental impact.”
The SSG said the suspension was a precautionary measure aimed at ensuring the safety of both mining workers and local communities.
He said though mining falls under the exclusive legislative list, the decision for the suspension was made after thorough assessment of the current security situation in the mining sites.
“The Kebbi State Government believes that it is of utmost importance to prioritise the protection and security of its citizens and to safeguard against converting the mining fields as a veritable platform for breeding of criminals and criminalities by unauthorised foreigners and non- indigenes of questionable characters, with the attendants consequences of an increase in banditry activities in our security-compromised areas of Kebbi South.
“This scenario had manifested itself in other neighbouring states for which we want to avert.
