The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has urged Kogi communities to intensify efforts against illegal mining and environmental degradation.

Mr Alake made the call while addressing Concerned Kogi Youths Against Environmental Degradation at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.

The youths protested environmental damage allegedly caused by mining activities in Ankpa and Omala Local Government Areas of Kogi.

Lara Owoeye-Wise, special assistant on media to Mr Alake, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

Represented by a management team led by the director of the mining inspectorate, Imam Ganiyu, Alake urged youths to mobilise community support.

“Consult your elders. Convince community leaders and local authorities to back off and allow the machinery of enforcement to work diligently,” he said.

He urged communities to stop protecting illegal miners and support government agencies working to end environmental degradation caused by unlawful mining.

The minister commended the youths for supporting the campaign against illegal mining and assured them of stronger government intervention.

He said the government was deploying technology while strengthening the Mining Marshals to intensify operations against illegal miners across the country.

“Kogi has been of particular concern to the ministry,” Mr Alake said, recalling the Marshals’ first operation in the state.

He said the operation dislodged illegal miners from Licence 19325, belonging to North-South Extractive Industries, in Yagba East Local Government Area.

“The Marshals have aided many companies to expel illegal miners and prosecute them,” the minister said.
He disclosed that 374 illegal mining sites had been identified nationwide between March 2024 and August 2026.

“Of these, 108 sites have been cleared. We have arrested 743 suspects and are prosecuting 165 cases involving 430 accused persons,” he said.

According to Alake, five convictions have so far been secured from prosecutions arising from the government’s anti-illegal mining operations.

He said the federal government had demonstrated strong commitment to tackling illegal mining in Kogi through investigations and enforcement operations.

Mr Alake said several committees headed by the ministry’s permanent secretaries had visited Kogi to investigate complaints concerning illegal mining.

 He said investigations showed that many illegal miners were indigenes operating unlawful ventures with support from some community stakeholders.

 According to him, elders, traditional rulers and local government officials have, in some cases, supported the illegal exploitation of mineral resources.

Mr Alake condemned illegal miners for undermining legitimate mining companies and enriching themselves through resources belonging to licensed operators.

He said legitimate companies paid licence fees and royalties, but illegal miners exploited their mineral resources at the expense of Nigerians.

“This ministry has a message for them and their collaborators: time is running out.

“With the ongoing deployment of technology and consolidation of the Mining Marshals, very soon there will be no hiding place for these criminals,” he said.

Earlier, the association’s coordinator, Isaiah Ijele, said the protest sought to draw attention to the consequences of illegal mining in Kogi.

Mr Ijele alleged that mining activities were being conducted in violation of environmental and regulatory standards across affected communities.

He said the activities had damaged roads, destroyed farmlands, polluted water sources and worsened living conditions for residents.

Mr Ijele urged Alake to order investigations into mining activities in Ankpa and Omala Local Government Areas.

He also called for the deployment of mines inspectorate officials and mining marshals to enforce mining regulations in affected communities.

The ministry is compiling names of mining companies that defaulted on community development agreements.

The ministry said it would soon publish the names of defaulting companies, along with other penalties for regulatory violations.

 (NAN)