The Federal Capital Territory Police Command says 21 illegal miners, including a community leader and three Chinese nationals have been arrested over alleged illegal mining in Azam village, near Nasarawa State.
This was contained in a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer in the FCT, DSP Josephine Adeh, in Abuja.
She said the operation that led to the arrested of the suspect, codenamed: “Safe G-7,” followed the worrisome menace of kidnapping, banditry and other criminal activities in the FCT and its neighbouring states.
Adeh said heads of the security agencies in the region had embarked on a massive raid and cleanup operation in all mapped out hideouts, camps and areas serving as refuges to the miscreants.
She said the operation was targeted at addressing the menace of kidnapping, banditry and other criminal activities within the seven states of Kogi, Niger, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Benue, Plateau and the FCT.
She said the idea was to further promote confidence building and take the fight against miscreants in their hideout at the various boundaries between the FCT and the said contingents states.
According to Adeh, the continuation of Tuesday’s operation in Matte, Kwali Area Council to reclaim the village, recently invaded by suspected bandits, was successful and immediately followed up with deployments to provide the needed security.
She said: “In compliance with the G-7 mandates, on day two of the operation, the JTF continued the patrol of villages sharing boundaries with Nassarawa state.
“Upon the receipt of actionable intelligence, the team stormed a camp at Azam village, where an illegal mining site of about 40 minutes walk distance from the said village was discovered.
“The miners who were said to have established a symbiotic relationship with bandits/ Kidnappers engaged the team in a gun duel and were forced to retreat and subsequently, over powered by the superior fire power of the JTF.”
Adeh said majority of the suspects were from the various bordering states and confessed to have enjoyed unfiltered cooperation with the head of the local community who was immediately arrested.
She said the three male Chinese nationals arrested in connection to the offence would be handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service to establish their immigration status in Nigeria.
The PPRO said refined and unrefined gold, two gold weigh scales, criminal charms, 17 mobile phones, four motorcycles, two dane guns, shovels, cutlasses, two pumping machines and one generator were recovered from the suspects.
She said substances suspected to be Cannabis and other forms of hard drugs were also, recovered.
Adeh said the two suspects linked with the possession of the aforementioned drugs would be handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
She said the suspects would be arraigned in court upon completion of investigation.
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