Samuel Bello, Abuja
The Federal Government has said it would prosecute no fewer than 19 illegal foreign miners apprehended in Osun and Zamfara states to the maximum extent of the law.
Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, who stated this recently during a press briefing in Abuja, hinted that most of these foreigners are diligently working for Nigerians in high positions and authorities.
Adegbite, however, commended the state government for instituting the spread and dismissing pressure for the release of the culprits who he said are mostly Chinese.
“In Osun, 17 foreigners have been apprehended while in Zamfara just two of them. We are taking them to the Federal High Court, the case is being compiled. The people caught in Zamfara have been transferred to the headquarters, their files are being compiled and we sent to the director of public prosecutions so that we can arraign them in court so that it serves as deterrent because in the past it’s assumed that we can only bark and not bite,” he said.
Adegbite said that Osun and Zamfara states, where gold deposit abounds attracted and led to foreign illegal miners perpetrating criminal activities in various areas of the state.