The Director-General and Chief Executive of the Nigerian Institute of Mining and Geosciences (NIMG), Prof. Bolaji Hassan, has said that activities of illegal miners in the country was robbing government of huge revenues.
Hassan, who said this in an interview with journalists on Thursday, in Jos, explained that the miners were exploiting rich mineral resources through the back door, while government doesn’t get the desired revenues it ought to get from their activities.
He added that by using artisanal methods to mine and process the mineral resources, most of the miners were often forced to sell out the resources in their raw forms and at giveaway rates.
“Illegal miners are simply robbing the nation of huge revenues that are supposed to go to government coffers. And this simply because these minerals are being removed illegally; due process is not followed.
“Because they do it illegally, the miners sell the product without value.
“If these activities are done the right way or they come to us to process and add value to the product, government will generate more revenues,” he said.
The NIMG DG further explained that some of the miners actually have genuine licenses to mine, but lacked the equipment to do it professionally, hence making the process illegal.
He called on the miners to allow government to regulate their activities for maximum revenue generation, as well as to improve their personal incomes.
