The Presidential Guards Brigade has raided an illegal mining site at Tukashara Wasa in Apo, Abuja Municipal Area Council, and arrested 60 suspects.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Musa Danmadami, who disclosed this during the directorate’s bi-weekly media briefing on Thursday in Abuja, said the troops also confiscated two trailers loaded with illegally mined items during the operation, which took place on October 30.
Some states in the North including Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, and Zamfara are the worst hit by activities of illegal miners.
At least 80 percent of mining activities in these areas took place illegally on an artisanal basis involving over two million people who depend on it for survival.