EFCC arrests 7 over alleged illegal mining activities in Ilorin

Operatives of the Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested seven suspects over alleged in illegal mining in Kwara.

Its Spokesman, Dele Oyewale, said this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

Oyewale said the commission also arrested two other suspects for allegedly offering N1.2 million bribe to compromise the operatives of the Commission.

”The arrest, which followed credible intelligence and days of surveillance, was carried out on Friday, May 24, at Ogbomosho, Oyo State.

“The suspects are: 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,” he said.

According to him, preliminary investigations reveals that the suspects are not licensed miners and did not have requisite authority to purchase and possess the minerals.

”They were also not paying royalties to the Federal and States Governments, as required by law,” Oyewale said.

He said the commission also arrested two other suspects, Faleti Waheed and Noah Olalekan, who allegedly offered N1.2million bribe to the operatives to secure the release of one of the seized trucks.

The EFCC spokesman said the duo approached the commission operatives at the point of arrest and negotiated to give them money to secure the release of the seized truck.

”The officers played along and got the suspects arrested at the point of delivering the money.

”The sum of N995,500 was recovered from Waheed, who claimed to be a manager at a filling station in Ogbomosho, while the sum of N201,000 was recovered from Olalekan, who claimed to be a scavenger.

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