No fewer than 12 illegal miners have been arrested by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Akwa Ibom State Command.
The command disclosed that six trucks used for the illegal operations were impounded.
Making this known at the Command headquarters in Uyo, the State of NSCDC, Mr Eluyemi Eluwade, said the illegal miners were apprehended by NSCDC operatives in Abak and Itu Local Government Areas of the state.
He said the activities of illegal miners on government properties have negatively impacted the environment and would not be allowed to continue.
He said, “As part of our activities to streamline the activities of miners in the state, and also to ensure only legal miners are allowed to work on mining sites.
“Also, to make sure dues and royalties are paid to the government, we went out yesterday, Tuesday, and we arrested 12 illegal miners and also impounded six trucks.”
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Eluwade stated that the activities of illegal miners in the state have exposed part of the environment to erosion and flooding, stressing that the command would not allow the practice to continue.
Meanwhile, a woman in Adamawa State, Zuwaira Yusuf, has regained her freedom after spending eight months in prison for stealing a shirt and a cooler.
Zuwaira, a divorcee, was convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment for theft and was serving her jail term at Hong Correctional Centre until reprieve came her way on Wednesday.
The Adamawa State Jail Delivery Committee (JDC), headed by the state’s chief judge, Justice Hapsat Abdulrahaman, set her free when the committee visited the correctional centre.
The Adamawa JDC has been going round correctional centres in the state since last week in its task of freeing inmates, especially those awaiting trial whose cases are considered deserving of leniency.
The committee has similarly been admitting some inmates to bail as it has considered fit, in its bid to decongest prisons, as mandated by the state government.