EFCC nabs 7 over alleged illegal mining in Ilorin

By Mosunmola Ayobami, Ilorin

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ilorin Zone, has arrested seven suspects for alleged illegal mining.

According to a statement issued by the Commission, the arrest, followed credible intelligence and days of surveillance.

The Commission said that it was carried out the arrest on Friday, May 24, 2024 at Ogbomosho, Oyo State.

The suspects were Waliyu Abidoye, Abubakar Auwal, Abdulrauf Hakim, Sabiu Usman, Salihu Godwin, Dauda Mohammed and Olalekan Aremu.

“At the point of arrest, five truckloads of assorted minerals suspected to be lepidolite, lithium and precious stone among others were recovered from the suspects.

“Investigations revealed that the suspects were not licensed miners and did not have the requisite authority to purchase and possess the minerals. They were also not paying royalties to the Federal and States Governments, as required by law”, said the Commission.

The Commission also arrested two other persons, Faleti Waheed and Noah Olalekan, who allegedly offered N1.2million bribe to the operatives in order to secure the release of one of the sized trucks.

“The duo of Waheed and Olalekan approached the EFCC operatives at the point of arrest and negotiated to give them money in order to have their seized truck released. The officers played along and got the suspects arrested at the point of delivering the money.

“The sum of N995,500 (Nine Hundred and Ninety-Five Thousand, Five Hundred Naira Only) was recovered from Waheed who claimed to be a manager at a filling station in Ogbomosho while the sum of N201,000 (Two Hundred and One Thousand Naira Only) was recovered from Olalekan who claimed to be a scavenger.

“The suspects will be arraigned in court upon conclusion of ongoing investigations”, said the Commission.