The Miners Association of Nigeria says banning mining activities in the country is not the solution to the country’s security challenges.

The association said this in a statement jointly signed by its national president, Dele Ayankale, and its national secretary, Sulaiman Liman, on Monday.

The Northern States Governors’ Forum recently called for the suspension of mining activities for six months following the abduction of school children and killings in some states.

They identified illegal mining as a key driver of insecurity and stated that the suspension  would allow for a comprehensive audit and revalidation of all mining licences in consultation with state governments.

Nonetheless, MAN said that only illegal mining had been linked to fueling terrorism and other security challenges, not legal operations, and decried that the ban would hurt legal miners while giving room to illegal operations.

Mr Ayankale argued that previous bans on mining, as a strategy to curb insecurity, had not yielded positive outcomes, as seen in the 2019 ban on mining activities in Zamfara, saying the negatives outweigh the positives. He said, instead, banditry, kidnappings, and terrorism escalated in the state and extended to neighbouring states of Katsina, Kaduna, Niger, and Kebbi, among others.

“It is the disorderly, illegal mining that is conducted without licences and government regulations and control that practices money laundering and fuels insecurity. A clear distinction must be made between legal and illegal mining. Therefore, stigmatising mining as the cause of insecurity is a misnomer,“ he explained.

He stressed that the ban would be unjust and a serious disservice to legal miners and their employees, leading to mass unemployment, worsening multidimensional poverty, and insecurity.

The victims of such bans, he said, were usually legitimate stakeholders, as illegal miners mostly linked with terrorists would still have access to mineral resources due to the government`s poor logistics and personnel to enforce compliance.

“Unfettered access of illegal miners to the mineral resources in a banned mining location offers incentives and empowerment to criminals as they exchange the minerals for arms and ammunition to improve their heinous activities, “ he said.

The ban, he further explained, would undermine the Federal Government’s progress in attracting investment to the solid minerals sector, especially its initiatives aimed at removing bottlenecks and enhancing the sector’s visibility in global markets.

Mr Ayankale said that his members work in synergy with security agencies to maintain safety in their areas of operation, and that their activities follow standard procedures for responsible, environmentally friendly mining.

According to him, MAN’s members, through the implementation of the statutory Community Development Agreement, contribute significantly to infrastructure development in rural areas and to boosting the economy.

“Therefore, the call by our northern governors and elders to ban mining activities, at a time when the nation has started welcoming pockets of investments, is not only unfortunate, but highly unpatriotic,“ Mr Ayankale added.

He said the governors should use part of their security votes or create special funds to strengthen the operations of the Mining Marshals and other legal initiatives to address illegal mining.

According to him, the call for revalidation of mining licenses is akin to an agitation for resource control.

Mr Ayankale added that it was fundamentally against the letter and spirit of the Constitution, which places the control and management of mineral resources on the Exclusive Legislative List.

He urged the president to consider that the ban could create more recruits for terrorist activities. 

(NAN)