Over 600,000 Nigerians are involved in illegal mining activities in the country.The Minister of State to the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Abubakar Bwari, has disclosed.
Bwari also disclosed that measure are in place to encourage the artisanal miners to begin to mine using best standards practices.
He said, “For now we have a department that has to do with the artisans; we are trying to put them in groups in the way we can easily assist them because this has become a source of employment for a lot of Nigerians. We have more than 600,000 of them that are involved in this and of this figure, some have registered and we will organise them in such a manner that they can do it in the proper way.
“There are plans in place to curb illegal miners and there are also plans, from what we have been briefed so far, to bring these artisans that we call illegal together to harness their potential and encourage them to conduct their mining in the best standard practice. We do not see them as illegal miners but as artisans.”