Ondo has sent back 13 illegal miners smuggled into the state from Osun State.
They arrived the state in a haulage truck used in conveying cement.
It was some eagle-eyed residents in Akure the Ondo State capital that noticed when the truck driver attempted to drop them at the FUTA South gate axis in Akure that raised alarm and called security agents.
Driver of the truck was said to have told interrogators that he picked the passengers at the Osun borders with Ondo on compassionate grounds when they begged him to take them to Akure.
Senior Special Assistant to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, on Special duties and Strategies, Dr Doyin Odebowale, said he mobilised security operatives to where the truck was parked with the illegal miners inside.
Dr. Odebowale praised the residents for being vigilante.
He noted that the illegal miners were carrying shovels and claimed to be coming from Ilesha.
According to him: “All these passengers said they were displaced from Osun. You know there are mines in Osun. The driver wanted to drop them in Akure.
“The driver was trying to dump them here in Akure but the people saw him and held him down. We will now impound any truck that smuggles non-residents into the state during this COVID-19 period.”
