The Minister of Solid Minerals development, Dr Dele Alake, has called for further collaborations between stakeholders in the solid minerals sector and the National Parks Service to combat illegal mining and curb incidents of mines collapse.
The minister was reacting on Friday to the news about the pit collapse during illegal mining operations in the Gashaka-Gunti National Park, an incident which the ministry was monitoring through the Federal Mines Officers in Taraba and Adamawa states.
He noted that technical reports from field inspection indicated that lack of professional skills in mines development by artisanal miners engaging in illegal mining were responsible for pits collapse.
Calling on perpetrators to stop risking their lives in search of minerals, he advised them to form mining co-operatives and approach the ministry to facilitate licences and permits to operate legally.
Alake informed that the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act and extant regulations outlaw mineral exploration in the national parks as it endangers the virgin forests, plants and wildlife being preserved by the federal government.
Recalling that the ministry and the management of the National Parks Service have discussed the terms of collaboration to stop mining in the parks, he called on the officers of the National Parks Service to report any case of mineral extraction to the nearest Federal Mines Officer for immediate action.
To forestall a recurrence, the minister called on local government authorities to pay more attention to illegal mining activities within their areas and work with the state offices of the ministry to align with the early warning systems put in place to combat the menace of illegal mining.
He said the Ministry was sponsoring radio programmes on the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria and the Voice of Nigeria to educate Nigerians about the dangers of illegal mining and the need to join co-operatives to benefit from the ministry’s training and empowerment programmes.
Noting that the programmes are translated to nine Nigerian languages to target artisanal miners who are mostly non-English speakers, Alake said the ministry artisanal department is planning more engagement programmes to deepen the confidence between artisanal miners and the government.
