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From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
Following the recent protest of the residents of Ilate-Etido Community in the Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State over the notorious activities of illegal miners in the area, no fewer than seven suspects, including a Chinese national have been arrested for alleged illegal mining and dredging.
The protesters had lamented the negative and destructive impacts of the illegal dredging of sand in the area, which according to them, had affected their farmlands, environment and their sources of living.
But earlier in the week, a combined team of soldiers from the 35 Artillery Brigade, Alamala, Abeokuta and police operatives from the Zone 2 Command of the Nigeria Police Force, Onikan, Lagos, arrested the suspected illegal miners at a dredging site.
Findings by Saturday Sun revealed that some policemen and soldiers providing cover for the illegal miners headed by the Chinese national, were also removed from the site by the security team.
The arrested civilians were later whisked to Onikan, Lagos for interrogation.
Our correspondent further gathered that the company dredging laterite and sand in the community had its mining licence revoked since August 12, 2022 by the Nigeria Mining Cadastral Office, Abuja.
A source in the community who preferred anonymity informed Saturday Sun that despite its revocation of the mining licence which was published in the official gazette of NMCO, Abuja, the company owned by a businessman from Osun State, had continued to carry on illegal mining activities, using policemen and soldiers as security covers.
Speaking with our correspondent on Thursday, Deji Enisenyin, the solicitor of the Ilate-Etido Community, disclosed that a series of petitions had been written to the relevant authorities and security agencies, to call their attention to the activities of the illegal miners.
According to him, a petition dated May 3, 2024 was written on the matter to the office of the Federal Mines Officer, Federal Secretariat, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, as well as the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA).
He added that another petition was written to the State Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Ogun State Command, on April 22, 2024, to call the attention of the Command to the illegal activities of the miners.
