Retired military generals behind illegal mining- Oshiomhole

The Chairman Senate Committee on Interior, Sen. Adams Oshiomhole has alleged that some retired military generals are responsible for illegal mining activities across Nigeria, which continue to undermine the country’s efforts to diversify its economy.

Oshiomhole made this allegation during the budget presentation by Senator Sampson Ekong, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals Development, to the Senate Committee on Appropriation.

Oshiomhole expressed frustration over the Federal Government’s inaction, urging President Bola Tinubu’s administration to address the illegal mining crisis decisively.

He compared the situation to the government’s robust measures against illegal oil bunkering in the Niger Delta and called for similar enforcement in the mining sector.

According to him, “the ongoing illegal mining across the country is being carried out by retired generals, and we know them. They use helicopters to cart away gold, making billions of dollars, while the country suffers”.

He further revealed that during his tenure as National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he had written to former President Muhammadu Buhari about the situation, detailing how illegal miners arm local groups and use sophisticated equipment to exploit resources.

He added, “This issue has been left unchecked for too long. We have the data and surveys showing where these activities are happening. It’s time for the government to deploy Joint Task Forces, just as it has done in tackling oil theft.”

“If we have to fight this menace, we need to deploy the army even to kill anyone who is involved in the illegal pumping of oil. We should also deploy JTFs, comprising the Army, Police, and Air Force, against them.”

Oshiomhole added that those behind illegal miners equip their men to perpetrate the crime against the Nigerian state.

“They give them arms. They use choppers to come and cart away the gold and they take them out of this country and make billions of US dollars.

“Unfortunately, the Federal Government is not doing what it should be doing. I took this letter to the former president, when I was the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress and I said, call the general to give you more briefing.

“What is happening or what is supposed to happen in that part of the country was exactly what the general told me was going to happen,” he added.

Meanwhile, Senator Ekong presented his committee’s recommendation for the 2025 budget of the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development. The committee proposed an increase from the N9 billion capital vote initially allocated by the executive to N539 billion, emphasizing the sector’s potential.

Credit: Channels TV

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