The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Anambra State Command arrested two individuals for allegedly participating in illegal mining activities within the state.
Olatunde Maku, the NSCDC commandant in Anambra, disclosed this while presenting the suspects to the public on Wednesday in Awka.
According to Maku, the arrests took place on Tuesday based on reliable intelligence. The suspects were identified as Madueke Akpuchukwu, 53, from Awomama in the Oru East Local Government Area of Imo State, and Chimezie Ezenduka, 54, from No. 4 Mekus Drive Federal Housing, Onitsha.
Maku mentioned that the suspects were arrested at Igbariam while conveying 600 suspected bags of solid mineral (kaolin) without a relevant permit.
“Preliminary investigations showed that a 40-tonne truck, with no registration number, was loaded with 600 bags of kaolin and covered with tarpaulin to disguise it as a cement consignment.
“The solid minerals, valued at N20,204,400, were excavated around a sealed site at Nando in the Anambra East Local Government Area and transported outside the state without a waybill or licence,” he said.
Mr Maku said that illegal mining had been prohibited in Anambra under Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s administration to block revenue leakage.
According to him, the NSCDC will continue to check the activities of illegal mining across the state.
“The corps will be unrelenting in discharging its core mandate of checkmating and flushing out illegal miners from the state. They should either relocate from the state or stop immediately before the long arm of the law catches up with them. These suspects will be arraigned in court at the end of ongoing investigations,” he said.
The commandant urged residents to report illegal mining activities within their domains, unlawful mineral-related practices and environmental degradation for prompt response.
One of the suspects, Mr Akpuchukwu, admitted that he had been in the business of transporting kaolin to companies for eight years without any certification as a licensed miner.