Barr. Usman Nagogo, is the current Commissioner of Police in charge of Zamfara State Command, he hosted Anas Sani Anka, of Thunder Blowers, where issues concerning artisanal mining, execution of presidential order on illegal mining in Zamfara and the issue of porous nature of Nigeria’s borders were extensively discussed.
What is your assessment of the solid mineral potentials of Zamfara State?
With the enforcement of this Presidential order of banning artisanal and illegal mining in Zamfara, I have the opportunity of some of the mining sites in the state and believe me, Zamfara state is rich and in my own judgment, it can be assessed to be one of the most richest states with high deposit of solid minerals in Nigeria. I am impressed and I think the people of the state can take advantage of this wealth of the state to earn more legitimate wealth.
President Muhammad Buhari has issued a Presidential Order banning the activities of artisanal miners in Zamfara, what is your assessment of the current situation?
The Presidential order on the ban against artisanal mining activities in Zamfara remains in force and the command has been very vigilant especially with the recent complaints received from the licensed operators which led to the arrest of some defaulters including two Chinese nationals and six other Nigerians.
Were you able to be paying on the spot assessment of these mining sites in Zamfara and what have changed?
At the very beginning of this month, as a Commissioner of Police I received formal complaints about the ongoing activities of some illegal miners operating at Kwali mining site in Bukkuyum local government area of the state and I personally mobilized all stakeholders including journalists to visit the area.
One funny thing about what happened, even my divisional police officer was not informed of my coming but on arrival I asked him to join me without him knowing where we were going and I headed directly to the mining site.
Unfortunately for us, before we reached the mining site, some people have already called to put the miners on notice and they all ran away including their Chinese financiers. We were however able to arrest four people and we have maintained vigilance on the area.
After like a week, I went back with another information at hand and succeeded in arresting the two target Chinese Nationals alongside their tenant and one other. They were all interrogated and moved to the force headquarters for an extended questioning and possible prosecution.
What action did you take in closing down the mining site after your second visit?
The command has reached out to the IGP and based on the situation of things, the IGP instructed that, 63 mobile police officers be redeployed permanently to the area and currently mining activities have been suspended indefinitely in that place.
I have also instructed the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Bukkuyum local government to furnish me with a weekly report of what is happening 0n the site. The state governor is also complementing our effort because he has been paying the redeployed mobile police officers monthly allowances just to enhance their morale.
Apart from Kwali which other mining sites operating illegally in Zamfara did you visit?
I have also visited Gemawa mining site in Talatar Mafara based on intelligence report I received and after seeing things for myself, I closed down that place entirely and also redeployed 30 mobile police officers to take charge of the security of the mining area. And the same thing with that of Bukkuyum, the Governor is paying the police men their weekly allowances. So we have succeeded in ensuring 100% compliance with the presidential directive to this direction.
But there are numerous mining centers scattered all over the fourteen local government areas of the state what are you doing to ensure that, other mining centers are not operating?
Based on what we have planned here in the command, immediately after Sallah break, we are going to visit all the mining sites and assess things with our eyes. And the command will remain active in enforcing this presidential order without discrimination.
The IGP has warned all of us manning the commands to be more alive to carrying out the presidential order and we will surely enforce it to the fullest. With the little we have done, the IGP and indeed federal government is happy with us that the order is being enforced in Zamfara state. Even from the recent interviews by the Minister of Mines and Solid Minerals you can testify that, he was impressed with Zamfara state police command.
How does the Chinese and Nationals from Burkina Faso get access to these mining sites in Zamfara without being intercepted by the Nigerian security forces especially Nigerian Immigration Service?.
The porous nature of our entry borders always constitute a big challenge in fighting trans-border criminality. I know for sure, operatives of the Nigerian Immigration Services are very active on our borders and likewise officers and men of Nigerian Police Force but you know the nature of our borders give leeway for the criminals to always avoid conventional security checkpoints. Sometimes while our men and other sister security agencies are at the checkpoints, these criminals always find alternative exit routes to escape security search and get entry into the country. The porous nature of our border has continued to remain a big challenge to our stride of fighting criminality in the country.
What about Burkina Faso nationals you mentioned, how many are they and how many were arrested?
Of course there are reported cases of Burkinabes conducting illegal mining in the same Kwali mining site but during the unscheduled visit, we were not able to arrest anyone. But I assure you with the measures put on the ground we shall reach out to them one day and we will get them arrested.
What do you think should be done to make our entry borders in Nigeria more secured?
Security agenciest should be empowered security to ensure air surveillance of our nation’s borders, I think if that is done, it will assist greatly in checkmating the excesses of those criminals that always make use of exit routes along our borders to bring in more dangerous and deadly weapons into our country and also help in minimizing the influx of criminals that are all over our mining sites in Zamfara and other parts of the country.
