FG, Taraba Collaborate to End Illegal Mining

Kasim Sumaina in Abuja 

The Federal Government through the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development has expressed willingness to cooperate and collaborate with state governments to eliminate illegal mining activities in the country.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. (Mrs.) Mary Ogbe, disclosed this during a courtesy visit by the Governor of Taraba State, Dr. Agbu Kefas, to the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.

The permanent secretary, represented by the Director, Human Resource Department, Suleiman Kabir, stated that there was a pressing need for collaboration between the ministry and Taraba State to curtail any incidence of illegal mining in the state.

He lamented that illegal mining has become an endemic economic crime causing haemorrhage to government’s revenue beside its attendant security problems and festering community clashes in the states endowed with mineral resources.

To this end, Ogbe posited that the ministry cannot combat the menace of illegal mining alone and therefore sought robust dialogue between the ministry and Taraba State Government.

She said this is needed to enhance and sustain its effort at eliminating the activities of illegal miners within the ambit of the law.

While lauding the actions of the state government towards preventing a breakdown of law and order resulting from illegal mining, Ogbe commended the proactive security measures already taken, stressing that the governor should lend necessary assistance to legal miners in the state to encourage investor’s confidence.

Responding, the Governor of Taraba State, Kefas, condemned the activities of illegal miners in the state, saying that the stock in trade of illegal miners is to create communal clashes and flagrant environmental degradation in their quest for illegal exploration of mineral resources in the state.

To curb and eliminate illegal mining, the governor urged the ministry to open a corridor of communication and effective collaboration with the Taraba State government that will process and authenticate licences issued by the ministry to investors, as well as other documentations for exploration of mineral resources.

This measure, he stated, would create an enabling environment for attracting genuine investors into the state to achieve the much desired socio-economic transformation of the country.