I llegal miners prospecting for gold have besieged Ilesa in Osun State to improve their fortunes, our correspondent has learnt.
It was gathered that the illegal miners had the backing of the local chiefs in the town, who also allegedly usually give them the logistics to carry out their trade unhindered.
The illegal miners, according to sources in Ilesa, are accommodated in some residential apartments by their ‘masters,’ who usually pay them according to the volume of business done every day.
A portion of land suspected to contain the rare mineral resource, it was learnt, could be dug for days before the illegal miners would strike the precious metal. This ‘feat’ is usually said to elicit some enthusiasm among the miners, who would giggle in satisfaction that their labour has not been in vain, after all.
The masters or sponsors of the illegal miners, according to an independent source, would intentionally make provision for local guards, who are very versed in the local dialect, Ijesa, in an apparent move to prevent the miners from being molested or challenged by curious local residents.
A s i d e from providing security for the miners, it was learnt, it is also the responsibility of the guards to ensure that the miners do not play a fast one on their masters or sponsors. “We guard the miners and ensure that their activities are closely monitored. We do this to prevent pilfering,” declared a local guard, who pleaded anonymity.
The guard also told our correspondent that the chiefs /baales profiting from this illegal mining activities live big and ride in powerful exotic automobiles at the expense of the peasants and indigent people of the area.
“They are just milking us, and our government is not doing anything about it. In this bush, there are many death traps in form of abandoned mine shafts. They are just disasters waiting to happen.
Many pits and holes have been dug by these illegal miners,” he added.
Checks by our correspondent revealed that in the past 20 years, a multibillion naira worth of gold has been illegally smuggled out of Osun State by the miners, usually in connivance with the local chiefs and some government security agents saddled with the responsibility of keeping vigil over the areas.
According to an indigene of IleIfe, Mr. Ojo Adamolekun, “Illegal mining and smuggling activities peaked during the late General Sani Abacha’s regime, when a group of soldiers invaded the host communities, where the mineral resources are naturally deposited, to carry out illegal mining. And nobody could challenge them since it was believed that they were armed soldiers legally deployed in the area by the then government.
“Ironically, the illegal prospecting for gold and the danger inherent in it have lately attracted the attention of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, who summoned some of the chiefs concerned to his palace, following formal complaints by some patriotic individuals, who reported their atrocities and those of their cronies.”
Some of the complainants were said to have told the Ooni that the activities of the illegal miners could rob the host town/ state a staggering amount in terms of revenue generation, besides attracting unimaginable sanction from the Federal Government should their unwholesome activities be detected by the relevant security agencies. Ooni had warned the chiefs, saying that any of them caught in the crime, especially for illegal mining or pillaging of the mineral resources of the state, would be treated like a common criminal.
Further investigations by our correspondent revealed that some communities in Osun State that have been playing host to the illegal digging and mining of the solid mineral resource also risk future environmental degradation and erosion as some of the already dug portions are said to be as deep as 35 feet.
According to a source, who pleaded anonymity, “In the nearest future, farming, which is the major occupation of the people of Osun State, may become impossible as illegal miners from the northern part of the country, who are working for some village heads, have taken over what used to be the farmland. The irony of it all is that their presence in communities such as Atakunmosa, Owena, Mokuro, Agidi and others has lately increased the activities of smugglers, who come in droves from some West African countries to partake in the booming illegal trade in gold.”
Although Section 94 of the Nigerian Mineral and Mining Act 2007 prohibits the mining and purchase of minerals without an approved and valid license, our findings revealed that the Ministry of Solid Mineral Resources is handicapped as it continually finds it difficult to contain the activities of illegal miners.
A concerned citizen of Ilesa from the Adeti area, Mr. Foluso Faluyi, said that the state government under Governor Rauf Aregbesola should do more by arresting those depriving the state of revenues.
“In my own candid opinion, there are cabals behind the illegal mining activities here. God Almighty gave us the resources for the purpose of bettering our lives but some greedy individuals, including some bales and politicians, who are obviously collaborating with other criminal elements outside our state, have been depriving us of it. I think it is high time something drastic was put in place by the Ministry responsible,” Faluyi said.
