The police in Kwara State have arrested eight suspected illegal miners and recovered three trailer loads of marble stones in the Patigi Local Government Area of the state.
Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Okasanmi Ajayi, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, saying the suspects were arrested along the Share, Tsaragi, and Patigi areas of the state on October 30.
He said the arrest was made possible following a petition and a letter written to the state Commissioner of Police, Paul Odama.
According to the police spokesman, residents of Patigi Local Government Area and the Association of Licenced Miners of Kwara State had complained that illegal miners have turned their ancestral lands into a beehive of illegal mining of mineral resources.
The situation, Ajayi noted, had resulted in ecological problems and sabotage to the economy of both the state and the Federal Government.
“Based on this petition, a team of Kwara State Police Command’s operatives was dispatched to the area to arrest and if possible, recover and impound any illegally mined minerals in the said area,” the statement read in part.
“The police team swung into action and on 30/10/2022 at about 02:00hrs the suspects named hereunder were arrested with three trailer loads of suspected marbles illegally mined.”
The suspects are Abdulbagi Sadiq, Isah Amisu, Mohammed Zanihat Idris, Alhassan Rabiu, Mohammed Abdulbagi, Ibrahim Sule Balarabe, Mohammed Dalhatu Idris and Abubakar Tasiu.
Noting that the exhibits recovered have been transported to the state police headquarters, the PPRO stated that the suspects after interrogation and confessions have been charged to court.
He added that economic sabotage and any acts inimical to the health and security of lives and property of the citizens and people of the state would be resisted.
The police spokesman called on the residents of Kwara State to join hands with the police to rid the state of all forms of criminality.