The government of Cross River State has detained about 100 illegal miners who are thought to have migrated from the Sahel Savannah region of Africa after they allegedly invaded towns in the Yakurr local government area.Major General Okoi Obono (rtd), the State’s Security Adviser, supervised a sting operation on Saturday that resulted in the capture of the illicit miners.
The young men, who were thought to be non-Nigerians, stormed the Yakurr communities in large numbers, but they were defeated by security personnel who were helped by some locals as they attempted to flee a checkpoint that is located a stone throw from the Ugep community in the state’s Yakurr local government area.
The suspects allegedly boarded many empty trucks that passed through the area from the northern portion of the state on their way to Calabar, the state capital, according to a local named Ephraim Ofem, who claimed to have been present when the suspects were caught.
“I think the young men apprehended by the authorities are between the ages of 20 to 27 years. They were arrested with diggers, shovels, and earth drilling machines.
“These people are not Nigerians even though some claimed to be Nigerians. These guys are suspected to have come from Chad, Niger and probably Sudan.
“They are sponsored by faceless individuals to invade our community. They are not only found here, I am told confidently that they are also in Akamkpa local government area, around the National Park axis, always armed with AK-47 riffles during mineral exploitation,”Ofem said.
The State’s Security Adviser’s phone line was unreachable at the time of publication, so attempts to get him to comment on the situation were unsuccessful.
However, SP Irene Ugbo, the Cross River State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), responded to the arrest by saying, “Yes, it is true that the Cross River State government had arrested the illegal miners.”
“They are going to be profiled and those without papers would be repatriated back to wherever they are coming from.”