By Palma Ileye
Solid Minerals Development Minister, Dr. Dele Alake has urged more collaboration between the stakeholders in the solid minerals sector and the National Parks Service to combat illegal mining and curb incidents of mines collapse.
Alake in a press release issued by Segun Tomori, the Minister’s Media Aide 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 the 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.
He informed that the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act and extant regulations outlaw mineral exploration in the national parks as it endangers the virgin forests, the plants, and the 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.
The Minister was reacting to the news of 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.
To forestall a recurrence, he 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 on the dangers of illegal mining and the need to join co-operatives to benefit from the Ministry’s training and empowerment programmes.
He also noted that the programmes were translated to nine Nigerian languages to target artisanal miners who were mostly non-English speakers saying that the Ministry Artisanal Department was planning more engagement programmes to deepen the confidence between artisanal miners and the government.