12 undocumented miners are detained in Ondo

In Ondo State, a group of security officers has detained twelve people they believe to be involved in illicit mining.

The operation resulted in the arrest of people who were reportedly involved in illicit mining. It involved men from the 32 Artillery Brigade of the Nigerian Army.

The accused include the following: Adebayo James, 25, Kamal Zaharadeen, 25, Mohammed Bello Lawal, 25, Yunusa Mohammed, 24, Ma’azu Auwal, 24, Bashir Muktar, 24, and Kabiru Sani, 21. Abdullahi Ibrahim, 40; Hassan Bala, 40; Alawude Damilarin, 35; Ajayi Ebukun, 35; Oluwaseun Rufus, 34.

On Thursday, August 8, Olugbenga Atiba, the Senior Special Assistant on Security for Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, confirmed the arrests to media in Akure.

According to Atiba, the suspects, who were mainly from the states of Niger and Zamfara, were captured as the task team was acting on reliable information to stop abduction in the state.

Our team dispersed throughout the three senatorial districts of Ondo, deep into the trees, to avert kidnapping and, when required, to conduct arrests. The illegal miners, who were mostly from Zamfara and Niger, had entered these districts and were acting illegally until they were caught, according to Atiba.ner