The Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, has claimed that some leading Nigerians involved in illegal mining in the country were also complicit in banditry and terrorism sponsorship in the country.
The minister laid the allegation during an appearance before the House of Representatives Committee on Solid Minerals for the 2024 budget defence in Abuja on Tuesday.
Alake stated that the powerful interests sponsor banditry and terrorism as their illegal mining activities thrive best in an atmosphere of chaos.
He said most illegal miners were not foreigners but added that foreigners could be seen as symptoms.
“Nigerians are those powerful people behind them; we are identifying them with both kinetic and non-kinetic means. We have encouraged those petty illegal miners to form cooperatives,” he said.
He said it was particularly worrisome that most of the foreigners engaged in illegal mining in the country had no proper immigration.
He said for mining to generate the requisite revenue, there was a need to have a formal structure that the multinationals could deal with just like the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Ltd in the oil and gas industry.
He, however, said that the approach of the ministry under his leadership would be different from NNPCL, adding that the structure being proposed for Nigeria Mining Corporation would be primarily private sector-driven.
Alake noted that Nigeria would also have its equity, adding that this would mean that no government could destabilise the structure.
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