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The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, has vowed to revoke the titles of owners of licensed land units explored by illegal miners.
This is coming against the backdrop of another mine collapse in Niger State which claimed three lives.
The incident which occurred on Thursday around 10 am happened two weeks after a mine in Shiroro, Niger State collapsed and swallowed over 50 miners.
In a statement signed by the Minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Segun Tomori, on Saturday, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, said preliminary investigations showed that the collapsed mine was in the area under Exploration Licence 43113 of Jurassic Mines Limited in Adunu Village, Paikoro Local Government Area, Niger State.
He explained that an exploration licence is given to an applicant to confirm if the site is suitable for the proposed mineral exploration. It does not authorise the applicant to engage in mining.
Alake noted that the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development received reports that three people had died when a tunnel collapsed on them while mining gold in the site.
He further disclosed that an inquiry revealed that the miners were mining illegally.
He said, “At the time of the visit, work had stopped at the site, and only onlookers were seen. The coordinators of the site were taken, and officials returned to Minna at about 8.30 pm.
"The owners of the company were contacted by phone, but they claimed ignorance of happenings on the site. They were then summoned to the office in the state capital.”
The minister promises to communicate further developments to the public after undergoing series of investigations.
