7 suspected illegal miners arrested

The Anambra State Government has arrested and paraded seven suspected illegal sand miners in the state. Parading the suspects, the managing director of the state’s Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra (OCHA) Brigade, Celestine Anere, said the arrest was made through their patrol of the illegal mining sites at Oba in Idemili South Local Government Area. […]

The Anambra State Government has arrested and paraded seven suspected illegal sand miners in the state.

Parading the suspects, the managing director of the state’s Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra (OCHA) Brigade, Celestine Anere, said the arrest was made through their patrol of the illegal mining sites at Oba in Idemili South Local Government Area.

He said the team apprehended the suspects in the act of excavating sands illegally, thereby causing environmental degradation in the area.

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Anere warned tipper drivers to ensure that they enquire on the status of each site before going into a sealed location for sands as ignorance is not an excuse.

According to him, the agency had sealed all unapproved mining sites with demand notices served on them and asked site owners to visit the state Ministry of Environment to obtain their approval or face the full wrath of the law.