The Ministry of Solid Minerals Development has said that no fewer than 30 mining companies were sanctioned in the first quarter of 2016 for not complying with environmental laws.
Mr Salim Adegboyega, the Acting Director, Mines and Environmental Compliance Department in the ministry, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.
Adegboyega said that two mining companies were affected in Oyo, three in Ogun, two in Ondo, four in Niger and eight in Cross River.
According to him, some of the sanctions have been lifted on companies that have complied with the law.
The director said that industrial minerals companies such as cement companies were mostly affected in the sanction.
He attributed the slow compliance by the companies to inadequate staff and logistics to monitor mining operations in all the geopolitical zones.
“Some companies receive different sanctions due to different offences committed.
“Some of the sanctions include stop work order which is the minimal until the company complies with the law.”
Other sanctions, he said, were fine and revocation of licence, if the company refused to comply or renew its licence.
“We have over 600 formal mining companies operating; we have been monitoring them to fulfill the environmental requirements.’’
The acting director said that some companies had been in operation before the regulation was established in 2011, adding that their operations constituted a challenge in the implementation of environmental compliance.
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