Isaac Olamikan
As the activities of armed illegal miners continue to unsettle the quiet Dangbala Community of Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State, four suspected illegal miners have been arrested and detained at the State Police Command in Benin.
The suspects were said to have been apprehended by local vigilantes operating in the community.
The detained suspects were also alleged to have viciously attacked and injured one Mr. Peter Adelabu Kokumo at the Oketegbe mining site where the illegal mining is currently said to be taking place with the support of some community elders.
Spokesman of the community, Collins Nicholas, who addressed newsmen in Benin on the development, demanded the prosecution of those arrested in connection with illegal mining in the community.
He said those behind the illegal mining in the community had also resorted to frivolous petition writing against those opposed to their criminal activities to mislead the public and thereby call the police authority to unmask them.
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The Special Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki on Security Matters, Haruna Yusuf, when contacted also confirmed the arrest of the four miners and noted that the matter is being handled by the Police Command in Benin.
According to Nicholas, “Presently, illegal mining still strives in my community day and night. Those benefiting boasted that they are untouchable.
“Even when local security (vigilante) came, they prevented them from gaining access to the site. Secondly, they are using the name of our traditional head to write petition against those opposed to them in Dangbala.
“This is a traditional ruler that is bedridden and can’t even talk nor take decision. On the 10th of November, 2021, we were invited to the state CID on allegation of threat to life and breach of peace but to our dismay, the said petitioners couldn’t show up. We are demanding that the petitioners should be produced.
“Even when the police visited the community they discovered that our traditional head was bedridden. It was at that point they now asked us to go and settle. That was when they brought hundreds of illegal miners that invaded our community.
“Those faceless petition writers are the ones destroying Dangbala because as I speak, there are guns and dangerous weapons in the community and our people are no longer safe.
“We are calling on all well-meaning Akoko-Edo people world over to speak out against this invasion and the wanton stealing of our God’s given resources. Those already arrested should be prosecuted because we want peace and development.”
