Sam Ikeotuonye 26 November 2015, Sweetcrude, Lagos – The Federal Government has warned ‘cartels in the mining sector’ and all those engaged in illegalities in the sector to desist from their acts or face the full wrath of the law.
Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, issued the warning in Abuja, saying: “We are ready to tackle the cartels in the sector and those who think they can continue will face the maximum wrath of the law”.
According to him, the Mining and Mineral Law 2007 clearly set out guidelines for the operators in the sector and this will be strictly implemented to arrest illegalities.
The minister, who stated that the government would use both legal and political will to combat illegal miners, added: “If you glean through what President Buhari said when he came into power, every comment is punctuated with preference for solid minerals and agriculture as areas of interest in his efforts to diversify the economy.
“So, Mr. President has put me in his area of interest and I thank him for reposing confidence in me.”
He maintained that though the solid minerals sector currently contributes 0.06 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Products, GDP, the Muhammadu Buhari government had the plan to raise this to between 5 and 10 per cent before 2019.
