MINNA — Niger State Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, has ordered the suspension of all mining activities in Shiroro, Munya, and Rafi local government areas due to security challenges in the three LGAs.
The order might not be unconnected with the attack by the bandits on a mining site in Ajata Aboki village in Shiroro LG which killed several people including soldiers, police, and workers as well as four Chinese expatriates.
Ahmed Ibrahim Matane, Secretary to Niger State Government who announced the suspension in a statement, said the order would remain until further notice.
The statement said: “Any mining operator caught engaging in mining activities in the areas mentioned would face the full wrath of the law.
“The state government has directed security agencies in the state to profile all mining sites in the affected local governments with a view to ascertaining their genuineness”.
The governor urged the people of the state to be security-conscious and report all suspicious characters, movements, or objects in their communities to security agents.
He assured the people of the state that the government would not scale down pressure on the bandits, kidnappers, cattle rustlers, and other criminal elements until they were flushed out of the state.
Residents in those areas had in recent times said that the mining sites attracted criminals with prospective threats to the security of life and property.
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