Association Demands Release of 48 Miners Allegedly Arrested By Taraba Government

Kasim Sumaina in Abuja

The Miners Association of Nigeria (MAN), yesterday,  called on the Taraba state government to immediately free detained 48 miners allegedly jailed over what it termed illegal mining activities in the state

Its President, Dele Ayanleke, while addressing a press conference in Abuja,  said among the so-called illegal miners now in jail in the State, were seven members of staff of a company with valid Mining Lease, whose operational site was invaded by operatives of the Task Force.

He said the trend of development was not unconnected with the recent administrative transition in most states of the federation, which necessitated changes in the seats of governance.

Ayanleke said: “While we appreciate the ambitions of the new leaderships in our various states to accelerate socio-economic development, leveraging on the nature’s endowments within their domains, it is of no less importance to pursue these ambitions within all extant constitutional and legal frameworks in order not to breed anarchy and constitutional crisis that may render their efforts and those of the national government unproductive.

“Not quite long after the swearing-in of the new governors that the mining industry started witnessing an avalanche of Executive Orders, banning mining activities in some states like Ebonyi, Osun, Enugu, Cross River, Taraba and others.”

Ayanleke lamented that Taraba government went as far as setting up a Task Force on illegal mining and deforestation with full authority to arrest, summarily prosecute and sentence anyone found culpable under its own laws.

He said the association in its resolve to ensure a sanitised mining environment collaborated with the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development and its agencies over the years, in the overall interest of the national economy.

Ayanleke noted: “We are, however, of the belief and conviction, that the issue of illegality in the system must be appraised and confronted in the whole.

“A situation where a group of stakeholders is being stigmatised as the perpetrators of illegality by the holders of coercive machinery of state, is totally unacceptable.

“Section 44(3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and section 1(1) of the Nigeria Minerals and Mining Act (NMMA), 2007, place the ownership of mineral resources and mining regulations in Exclusive Legislative List with enough provisions to address the socioeconomic and environmental concerns of the lower tiers of government.”