Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Miners Association of Nigeria has dragged the Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority to court, over alleged usurpation of authority.
The Akwa Ibom State Chapter of the Association who filed the suit, said under the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act of 2007, the business of mining, quarrying and dredging were no longer under the regulatory oversight of NIWA.
Akwa Ibom State Coordinator of the Miners Association, Mr Iyakise Udofia, particularly accused the Eket Area Manager of NIWA, Mr Abubakar Wathanafa, of working against members of the assoication, including Zealand Integrated Services Limited.
Udofia the litigation was imperative as all efforts to get NIWA to resolve the issues amicable have proved abortive, adding that there had been various court verdicts to support the superiority of NMMA 2007 over NIWA Act 2004, including the judgement of December 5, 2014 in the Court of Appeal in Lagos, which was being obeyed by other states.
He said Akwa Ibom State Police Command has been petitioned on the matter, warning that the continued onslaught on mining operations in the state by NIWA as not only inimical to Federal Government’s economic diversification policy, but also a sabotage against the completion agenda of Governor Udom Emmanuel, which relies on all internally generated revenue sources.
“We are hereby drawing the attention of the Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority and its agents to sections 76 and 78 of the Nigerian Minerals & Mining Act 2007 and its Regulations 2011, which clearly take mining, quarrying and dredging away from the regulatory oversight of NIWA, by which the Nigerian Mineral & Mining Act (NMMA 2007) takes precedence over NIWA’s Act Cap N47 LFN 2004 and the authority of the agency or any other agencies to charge or demand for levies or fees from any extant mineral title holders.
“This is not the first complaint we have received, neither is it the first time our members are being harrased by NIWA. As law abiding corporate and individual citizens who understand the importance of peace to carry out our daily operations, this call is to stakeholders in the Nigerian mining sector and the public to rise up against this unlawful acts of crippling the business of our members and mining operations generally.
“We are amazed that the Federal Mines Officer of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development in Akwa Ibom State seems to have failed in his responsibility to checkmate the illegal usurpation by NIWA and other agencies by protecting the interests of mineral title holders under the oversight functions of his office,” Udofia said.
Follow us on twitter
