Illegal Mining Is Not The Cause Of Banditry And Kidnapping In Oyo State
I read with concern the article by my brother Mr. Kassim Akintunde linking the current insecurity, banditry, and kidnapping in parts of the country to illegal mining, citing the recent happenings in Oyo State.
With respect, this narrative is misleading and unfairly vilifies the mining sector.
1. *No connection established*: The kidnappers in Oyo made their demands known to the whole world. At no point did they mention mining, solid mineral businesses, mining operators, or mineral sites as motive. To force a link to mining where none exists is to mislead the general public.
2. *License award vs responsibility*: It is unfortunate that instead of blaming the office of man whom he is trying to give media hype to for awarding licenses in those Oyo areas including old Oyo National park, the author now wants to shift blame to miners for security failures. The duty of securing licensed areas rests with security agencies, not miners who applied and paid for licenses in good faith in order to develop the sector.
3. *Revenue vs. Reality*: Yes, agreed, my brother. The FMSD revenue has increased. But that increase is largely from exorbitant royalties, taxes, annual service fees, and high licensing fees introduced by this administration. If you compare the percentage increase in fees to the percentage increase in accruals, the Ministry has actually underperformed.
The real effect of these high fees is this: many indigenous artisanal and small-scale miners have stopped work. Others have been pushed back to the old, bad practice of mining without papers because they can no longer afford to be legal, the formalisation policy of the federal government of Nigeria and international best mining practices is defeated here.
Criminality should be called by its name. Banditry and kidnapping are security issues. Don’t use them to tarnish the image of legitimate miners and the sector that is trying to contribute to economic growth.
Let’s deal with facts, not propaganda.
Signed,
Mohammed Abubakar Hassan
Adamawa Artisanal & Small-Scale Miners Association.
