• Super Admin
• 07 Mar, 2026

Cross River State governor, Bassey Edet Otu, Friday, announced a comprehen­sive ban on illegal mining across the state following a strategic meeting with critical stakeholders in the sector. The decisive directive, which takes immediate effect, exempts only oper­ators with legitimate ap­provals from the Federal Government of Nigeria, as the state government moves to restore order and transparency in an indus­try increasingly associated with security and environ­mental concerns. Speaking during the meeting, Governor Otu said the state could no longer tolerate a situation where a sector with enor­mous economic potential had gradually become a source of instability and social disruption in several communities. "This sector is strategic to the economic future of our state," the Gover­nor said. "But instead of bringing prosperity to our communities, it is gradu­ally becoming a source of serious concern. We believe wealth can still be created from mining, but it must be done ethically, legally and with full re­sponsibility." Governor Otu noted that intelligence reports had shown a worrying influx of unregulated operators into mining communities, including foreign nation­als whose identities and operational structures were largely unknown to the state. "I have been receiving reports about the influx of strangers and aliens into our various communities," he said. "The truth is that we do not even know who many of these operators are. We must know those who are in our state and what exactly they are doing in our environment." The Governor also lamented that certain lo­cal actors had compounded the problem by aiding and abetting illegal activities in the sector. "Some of the people complicating this situ­ation are unfortunately within our own communi­ties," he said. "Some clan heads and village heads have become part of the problem by facilitating ac­tivities that are not prop­erly regulated." Governor Otu disclosed that the state government had initially attempted to manage the situation through dialogue and col­laboration with federal authorities, including se­curity agencies responsi­ble for monitoring mining operations. "I personally initiated discussions with federal authorities and security agencies to strengthen monitoring in the sector," he explained. "There were assurances that rangers would be deployed to as­sist us, but the process has taken far too long, and the few personnel on the ground are clearly insuffi­cient considering the scale of the problem." He stressed that after months of patience and observation, it had become clear that the state must take firmer action to pro­tect its communities and natural resources. "We have given enough time of grace," the Gover­nor declared. "There comes a point where government must act decisively. That time has now come." Source: https://independent.ng/gov-otu-bans-illegal-mining-orders-24-hour-surveillance-2/