Operators in the mining industry responded to the news by stating that the Federal Government’s ban on mining will result in thousands of young people losing their jobs and worsen the already dire security situation in Nigeria.
The operators, who were speaking on behalf of the Miners Association Nigeria, questioned the connection between mining operations and the recent jailbreak at the Kuje Correctional Center in Abuja.
Dele Ayanleke, the National Secretary of MAN, told our reporter that although the organisation was anticipating further information about the proposed ban by the government, caution must be taken not to have the restriction exacerbate insecurity in Nigeria.
Ayanleke responded when asked if it was accurate to claim that terrorists received some of their cash from illicit mining activities, “The issue is that it cannot be a general problem. Before government will say that, one would expect that they must have done their due diligence and conducted in-depth investigations into what is actually happening.Related News
“But the fact is that it is not in every part of Nigeria that this kind of situation is happening. We are aware that in the North-Central, around Zamfara and Katsina there have been issues.
“And even as we speak, for more than two years now, mining activities have been banned in Zamfara. But we don’t know the relationship between mining activities and the Kuje Correctional Centre break. We don’t know the relationship between those two issues.
He added, “We are quite aware that in Niger State recently there was this big massacre there that happened close to a mining site and might be related to mining activities. But one thing about that one is that we think it is more of a kidnap attempt that led to the massacre and not actually using mining revenue to sponsor insurgency and banditry.”
