Dele Olaosebikan
OPERATIVES of the Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested seven suspects for offences bordering on illegal mining activities, and two others for offering One Million, Two Hundred Thousand Naira (N1.200,000.00) bribe to compromise the operatives of the Commission.
The arrest, according to the Commission, followed credible intelligence and days of surveillance and was carried out on Friday 24 May 2024 at Ogbomosho, Oyo State. The suspects are Waliyu Abidoye, Abubakar Auwal, Abdulrauf Hakim, Sabiu Usman, Salihu Godwin, Dauda Mohammed and Olalekan Aremu.
At the point of arrest, five truckloads of assorted minerals suspected to be lepidolite, lithium and precious stones among others were recovered from the suspects.
Investigations by the EFCC revealed that the suspects were not licensed miners and did not have the requisite authority to purchase and possess the minerals. They were also not paying royalties to either federal or state governments as required by law.
The Commission also arrested two other persons, Faleti Waheed and Noah Olalekan who allegedly offered One Million, Two Hundred Thousand Naira (N1.200,000.00) bribe to the operatives in order to secure the release of one of the sized trucks.
The duo of Waheed and Olalekan approached the EFCC operatives at the point of arrest and negotiated to give them money in order to have their seized truck released. The officers played along and got the suspects arrested at the point of delivering the money.
The sum of Nine Hundred and Ninety-Five Thousand, Five Hundred Naira (N995,500.00) only was recovered from Waheed who claimed to be a manager at a filling station in Ogbomosho while the sum of Two Hundred and One Thousand Naira (N201,000.00) only was recovered from Olalekan who claimed to be a scavenger.
The suspects will be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of ongoing investigations.
Eighteen-Eleven Media