Check trend of illegal mining, Senate asks traditional rulers 

The Senate through its Committee on Solid Minerals Development, has asked traditional rulers in the country to check the activities of illegal miners in their areas of jurisdiction. Chairman of the Committee, Senator Ekong Sampson (Akwa Ibom South), made the call while on an oversight function to mining sites in Jos, Plateau State yesterday. The […]

The Senate through its Committee on Solid Minerals Development, has asked traditional rulers in the country to check the activities of illegal miners in their areas of jurisdiction.

Chairman of the Committee, Senator Ekong Sampson (Akwa Ibom South), made the call while on an oversight function to mining sites in Jos, Plateau State yesterday.

The senator also said the 10th Senate would closely monitor to ensure judicious use of the N1 trillion earmarked in the 2025 budget to revive and boost the solid minerals’ sector.

Senator Sampson who was represented by the deputy chairman of the committee, Senator Mustapha Khabeeb, said, We urge traditional rulers to check the activities of unlicensed miners who have been exploiting the sector at the expense of licensed operators.”

He said the Senate would support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to achieve his “renewed hope” agenda for the country.

In his remarks, a traditional ruler, the Gbong Gwom Jos, Da Jacob Gyang Buba, asked the Senate to insist that the Minister of Solid Minerals’ Development do the needful in regulating mining activities in Nigeria.

He told the committee that insecurity has persisted in the state due to the activities of illegal miners. “Young Nigerians in the state are being killed in the mining pits while institutions and other residential buildings are being threatened due to devastating mining activities,” he said.

He further noted that the hike in the prices of foodstuffs in the state was as a result of increasing illegal mining activities, pointing out that the decline in school enrollment in the state was also due to illegal mining activities.

The royal father revealed that, it was the reason, the Plateau state government activated the Executive Order 001, which has temporarily suspended mining activities in the state.