The Federal Government has arraigned a miner, Kolawole Olaiya, and his firm, Stone Rockers Nigeria Limited, at the Federal High Court, Abuja, over alleged illegal mining activities.

Mr Olaiya and his firm are being prosecuted by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation on allegations of unlawfully mining within Mining Lease No. 000395ML, which is said to be legally held by another firm, Lord’s Career Ventures Nigeria Limited.

He was arraigned on a two-count charge bordering on conspiracy and unlawful mining.
Mr Olaiya was arrested in 2025 by mining marshals following an investigation which included geo-spatial verification of the mining site. The investigators captured GPS-enabled photographic evidence and cross-checked the coordinates using official cadastral records maintained by the Mining Cadastre Office in Abuja.

The investigation was prompted by a complaint filed by Lord’s Career Ventures Nigeria Limited, which owns legal rights to the mining site.
Commander of the Mining Marshals, Attah John Onoja, in a statement sent to Peoples Gazette on Saturday, said the verification process confirmed that the activities of Mr Olaiya and his firm occurred within the complainant’s licensed mineral title area.

According to him, the mining marshals also alleged that the defendants acted with full knowledge of the illegality of their operations, despite repeated notifications from the title holder to vacate the site.
The statement noted that a confirmation from the Mining Cadastre Office, dated January 23, 2026, established the locus of the alleged offence within the complainant’s valid leasehold.

Consequently, the site was sealed off as a crime scene, alongside equipment found on the premises, pending prosecution.
In a court document obtained by The Gazette, the prosecution alleged that between October 2024 and July 30, 2025, the defendants conspired to mine minerals within the said lease area without lawful authority, contrary to provisions of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, Cap. M17, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

They were also accused of carrying out mining operations within the same cadastral area without authorisation, an offence punishable under the same statute.

Mr Onoja, in a statement on Saturday, described the alleged actions of the defendants as emblematic of a growing trend of illegal encroachment in the mining sector.
He noted that such practices, often perpetrated by non-compliant operators, undermine lawful mineral title holders and threaten the integrity of the regulatory framework governing Nigeria’s extractive industry.

Mr Onoja stressed that the federal government remains committed to stamping out illegal mining and enforcing compliance with extant laws, as part of broader efforts to sanitise the sector and enhance investor confidence, adding that it is a cardinal focus of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps’ (NSCDC) core mandate.
The defendants will be arraigned for the commencement of the trial on April 27, 2026.