The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake, has called on youths in Kogi State to persuade elders, community leaders and local authorities to withdraw any support being given to illegal miners, saying such collaboration is worsening environmental degradation in affected communities.
Alake made the appeal on Thursday while receiving members of the Concerned Kogi Youths Against Environmental Degradation, who staged a protest at the Ministry over the impact of mining activities in parts of the state.
The minister commended the youths for supporting the Federal Government’s campaign against illegal mining and assured them that the government was deploying technology and strengthening the Mining Marshals to intensify the fight against the menace.
He said Kogi State had remained an area of particular concern to the ministry, recalling that one of the first major operations of the Mining Marshals involved the removal of illegal miners from an area covered by Licence 19325, belonging to North-South Extractive Industries in Yagba East Local Government Area of the state.
According to Alake, the Mining Marshals have helped several licensed mining companies to remove illegal operators from their sites and ensure that suspects are brought before the law.
“Between March 2024 and August 2026, the Mining Marshals identified 374 illegal mining sites. To date, 108 of such sites have been cleared. We have arrested 743 suspects; we are prosecuting 165 cases involving 430 accused persons. So far, we have secured five convictions,” he said.
The minister said several committees headed by permanent secretaries in the ministry had visited Kogi State to investigate similar complaints, adding that investigations revealed that many illegal miners were indigenes who allegedly enjoyed the support of some elders, traditional rulers and local government officials.
Alake said illegal mining was not only damaging the environment but also undermining legitimate mining companies that had paid for licences and were required to pay royalties to the government.
“Their illegal activities are killing the mining companies. In the coal fields, they are stealing the minerals of mining companies which have paid money to obtain licences and will still pay royalties for the minerals extracted,” he said.
“Illegal miners don’t pay for licences. They don’t pay royalties. They enrich themselves at the expense of the Nigerian people.”
He warned illegal miners and their collaborators that the government would intensify enforcement through the deployment of technology and the strengthening of the Mining Marshals.
“This ministry has a message for them and their collaborators: time is running out. With the ongoing deployment of technology and the consolidation of the Mining Marshals, very soon there will be no hiding place for these criminals,” Alake said.
He urged the protesting youths to take the ministry’s message back to their communities and engage elders, traditional institutions and local authorities to allow enforcement agencies to effectively tackle illegal mining.
“If, as you claim, you are Kogi youths, take this message to the stakeholders in your communities. Consult your elders. Convince community leaders and local authorities to back off and allow the machinery of enforcement to work diligently and effectively to combat illegal mining and stop the reckless degradation of our environment,” he added.
The minister was represented at the meeting by the Director of Mining Inspectorate, Engr. Imam Ganiyu; Director of Mining Environmental Compliance, Dr Vivian Okono; Director of Special Duties, Engr. Frank Odom; Director of Human Resources, Dr Ijeoma Idika; and the Commander of the Mining Marshals, John Attah Onoja.
Earlier, the Co-ordinator of the Concerned Kogi Youths Against Environmental Degradation, Comrade Isaiah Davies Ijele, said the protest was organised to draw the attention of the minister to alleged environmental degradation in Kogi East Senatorial District, particularly in Ankpa and Omala communities.
Ijele alleged that some mining operations in the affected areas were being carried out in violation of environmental and regulatory standards, resulting in damaged roads, destruction of farmlands, pollution of water sources and worsening living conditions for residents.
He called on the minister to order a comprehensive investigation into mining activities in Ankpa and Omala Local Government Areas and deploy the Mines Inspectorate and Mining Marshals to enforce relevant laws and sanction companies found to have violated mining regulations.
Responding, the Director of Mining Environmental Compliance, Dr Okono, said the ministry, acting on the minister’s directive, was compiling a list of mining companies that had failed to comply with their Community Development Agreements.
She said the names of defaulting companies would soon be made public in addition to other penalties that could be imposed on them.
