230 miners operating without valid licences, Kwara govt tells EFCC

Kwara state government on Friday decried the illegal activities of miners operating in different parts of the state disclosing that 230 of them were operating without valid licences.

The permanent secretary, Ministry of Solid Minerals Development in the state, Mr. Okanlawon Musa Olarewaju, stated this when he led the management staff of the ministry to visit the Ilorin zonal commander of the EFCC, Michael Nzekwe.

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According to him, no fewer than 230 mining operators are in Kwara state and that none of them has come forward to revalidate their licences.

“We have called them now to come to the ministry to bring their documents for regularization and revalidation,” he said.

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Responding, the EGCC zonal commander, Nzekwe, vowed to ensure that the operators abided by the rules of the game by paying royalties to the government and also obeying the local content law.

Nzekwe also hinted on plans by the Commission to set up a task force to tackle illegal mining operators across the 16 local government areas of the state, adding that the EFCC “shall prosecute suspects arrested by the task force,” which would comprise representatives of all law enforcement agencies in the state.

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