Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has revealed that “powerful Nigerians” are the masterminds behind illegal mining activities in the country.
Alake made this revelation while appearing before the House of Representatives Committee on Solid Minerals to defend the ministry’s budget estimate for 2024.
According to the minister, these influential individuals supporting illegal mining are also linked to the sponsorship of banditry, terrorism, and other forms of insecurity prevalent in the sector.
Alake emphasized that the perpetrators are not foreign entities but Nigerians with significant influence.
“One pernicious discovery that we have made is that a lot of these banditry, terrorism, and insecurity that we associate with this sector are actually sponsored by illegal miners,” Alake stated.
“These are not your artisanal miners. They are not the people who pick gold on the ground. These are heavy and powerful individuals in our country. And they are Nigerians. They are not foreigners.”
In addition, Alake said: “Yes, you can see foreigners as symptoms, but they are not the disease. Nigerians are the powers behind those foreigners that you see on the streets. We are identifying them and employing various strategies, both kinetic and non-kinetic.”
