“Nigeria loses billions of Naira annually to illegal mining…. about 80 percent of Mining activities in Nigeria are illegally carried out.”

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Gyang Bere, Jos

The Presidential Committee on Special Mines Survelilance Task Force on Illegal Mining in Nigeria has said the country loses several billions of naira to foriegners, annually, due to perpetual illegal mining activities.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Georgina Ekeoma Ehuriah, disclosed this in Jos, yesterday, when he declared open a capacity-building workshop for committee members.
“Illegal mining has posed a serious threat to the growth and development of solid minerals in Nigeria. Nigeria loses billions of naira, annually, to illegal mining. It has been said that about 80 percent of mining activities in Nigeria are illegally carried out.
I admonish you to focus your drive on the illegal mining activities perpetrated by foreign operators.
These operators will never engage in such activities in their own countries knowing it would deny their government of due revenue. As a result, you should not suport them in undermining our economy; to the detriment of us.”
Ehuriah lamented that despite the establishment of the survelilance committee in 2012, disturbing surge of illegal mining activities are still in the increase in Ebonyi, Niger, Plateau, Oyo, Taraba and Zamfara states, among others.
She appreciated the security agencies for the risk involved in their operations and urged them to remain focused in discharging their duties to end illegal mining in the country.
“We don’t have an idea of what Nigeria is losing annually because it is just recently that we started focusing on illegal export. Most of these illegal exports of illegal minerals goes on in our seaport and borders. As of September, N1.6 billion was paid to government as royalties and over N43 billion was realised as tasks as recorded by FRIS.”
Ehuriah said Nigeria’s economy is down and revenue generated from oil is no longer sufficient to run the country and said there should be more effort to checkmate illegal mining to enable government generate sufficient revenue to run the country.