FG Suspend mining Activities in Zamfara and gives 48 hours to Foreigners to Vacate mining Sites

The Federal Government has ordered the suspension of all mining activities in Zamfara state with immediate effect. The Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu made the directive known at a press conference in Abuja today April 7th.

The IGP also added that all foreigners on the mining sites have been asked to vacate their locations within 48 hours.

The police chief said the suspension of the mining activities followed “intelligence report that has clearly established a strong and glaring nexus between the activities of armed bandits and illicit miners -with both mutually re-enforcing each other.’’

''Mining activities in Zamfara and other affected states are hereby suspended with immediate effect. Consequently, any mining operator who engages in mining activities in the affected locations henceforth will have his licence revoked. All foreigners operating in the mining fields should close and leave within 48 hours.”

The directive comes after the launch of Operation Puff-Adder to tackle kidnapping, banditry and other criminal activities along the Kaduna-Abuja highway and adjoining communities extending to Kogi, Katsina, Niger and Zamfara states.

Zamfara state has been in the news  since the begin of the year for reported acts of killings and kidnappings recorded in the state.