A socio-political group, the One Nigeria Movement (ONM) has accused
\nbeneficiaries of illegal mining in Zamfara State of trying to mislead
\nNigerians on the State Governor,\u00a0 Bello Mattawale’s noble initiative
\nof engaging in the business of buying gold directly so as to block
\narmed bandits’ major source of funds.<\/p>\n
According to a statement on Sunday, by its Convener General, Ahmed
\nSodiq-Mugoro and Secretary, Babatunde Aliyu, ONM, which said it was
\nnot true that the Zamfara State government was mining gold in the State,
\nnoted that those behind the attacks on the governor were only doing so
\nbecause they were being made to lose the source of their illicit
\nwealth.<\/p>\n
The group said the question Nigerians should ask those behind the
\nattack on the governor are; “Were people not mining and selling gold
\nin Zamfara State before now? Why all these attacks on the governor
\njust because he is trying to do what is right by exposing what has
\nbeen happening in the State?”<\/p>\n
The group said what the Zamfara State government was simply doing is
\nto use its own fund to buy gold so as to prevent the miners from
\nselling to armed bandits,\u00a0 who in turn use the gold to exchange for
\narms and ammunition.<\/p>\n
“The reality Governor Metawalle has brought to the attention of
\nNigerians are that despite the ban on mining, people did not stop from
\ndoing illegal mining and it was the major source of funds for bandits.<\/p>\n
“From the day the governor exposed this by taking the gold to
\nPresident Muhammadu Buhari and letting Nigerians see what the State
\nhas,\u00a0 why has banditry come down drastically in the Northwest?”<\/p>\n
Speaking further,\u00a0 ONM said: “Zamfara State government under Governor
\nBello Mattawale, is not cornering the resources belonging to the
\nentire federation of Nigeria, far from it.<\/p>\n
“Rather,\u00a0 the State Government is investing its own money to bring
\nsanity to the mining sector, provide jobs, and most importantly,
\neradicate banditry.<\/p>\n
“Before now,\u00a0 what was happening was the bandits forcing the miners to
\nsell gold to them at like N5,000 per gram while the bandits take the
\ngold to the end-users and sell at as much as N20,000 per gram.\u00a0 In
\nmost cases,\u00a0 they use gold in exchange for arms and ammunition.<\/p>\n
“It is like using one stone to kill more than two birds and since this
\nan initiative started,\u00a0 Nigerians can notice a drastic reduction in
\nactivities of the bandits in the Northwest now and it is hoped that
\nthey will fizzle out the moment they no longer have means of getting
\narms.<\/p>\n
“For this,\u00a0 it is our opinion that Governor Matawalle deserves to be
\ncommended. But we understand the plight of those orchestrating the
\nattacks against the governor. They are those who are showing anger
\nbecause the source of their illicit wealth has been exposed and we are
\nsure the governor won’t be distracted.”<\/p>\n
A socio-political group, the One Nigeria Movement (ONM) has accused beneficiaries of illegal mining in Zamfara State of trying to mislead Nigerians on the State Governor,\u00a0 Bello Mattawale’s noble initiative…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n