Senator Adams Oshiomhole, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior, has revealed that retired generals from the military are the masterminds behind the illicit mining operations.
The former governor said a joint task force consisting of the Army, Police, and Air Force should be deployed against them.
Oshiomhole made this allegation during the presentation of the 2025 budget report by Senator Sampson Ekong, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals Development, before the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
He said that Nigeria’s efforts to diversify its economy will be futile if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration fails to address the issue of illegal mining.
Oshiomhole, a member of the Appropriations Committee, said, “The ongoing illegal mining across the country is being carried out by retired generals, and we know them. Yes, we know them. Nobody in Africa doesn’t know them. I did a letter to former President Muhammadu Buhari on the matter when he was in office.
“This is because a team that I sent to go and conduct the primary somewhere, reported back to me, the challenge of conducting primary elections in Zamfara because of the illegal miners.
“If we have to fight this menace, we need to deploy the Army even to kill anyone who is involved in illegal pumping of oil. We should also deploy JTFs, comprising the Army, Police, Air force, against them.”
The panel agreed with Oshiomhole and called on security agencies to rise to the challenge.
