Men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) arrested 77 illegal miners in Ogun State in 2023.
The state’s Commandant of NSCDC, David Ojelabi, who disclosed this during an interview, hinted that the command, in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel, wrote letters to mining groups in the state and warned against stockpiling explosives in residential areas, noting that the move became necessary following the recent Ibadan explosion blamed on illegal miners’ explosives.
He blamed the easy access to explosives by illegal miners on porous borders, which he said many of them used in importing explosive devices.
He further said, “It is like asking how armed robbers are getting their rifles and so on. Wherever you have 12 sitting together, possibly you have one Judas among them.
“So, because of the number of unmanned borders, I mean porous borders or illegal borders, they can easily import those things illegally into the country and make use of them.”
