By Pita Chin, Minna

The Minister of State for Mine and Steel Development, Dr Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah, on Thursday warned illegal miners in county to desist from the act or face two years jail term without the option of fine .

Ogah, made this known at the   interactive session  with some miners in Minna, Niger state during his  tour of mining sites in the state

While announcing the Federal government plan to formalize the artisan miners in the country, the Minister said ,"We are trying to face out illegal mining to grow our mining sector by leveraging on the mandate of the president to diversify the economy and stop over realize on oil to fight unemployment.

" We are proposing a law criminalizing illegal mining in Nigeria which will include mining without permission, miners who get licensed to mine gold but got diamond and still went ahead to mine such would also be term illegal and there would be punishment of minimum of two years jail term without an option of fine," Ogah explained.

He however noted that the federal government is ready to strengthen the relationship with the state government in the area of mining adding that the state governor's must show political will at eradicating illegal mining.

On the actitivites of the artisan miners, he said they are working towards growing them into  big miner, stating that there is need for miners to form an association to have a common goal and work for the future of the country without going against government plans.

While admonishing miners to ensure harmonious relationship between them to be able to build a formidable team, the minister reminded them of the need to always pay royalty and ensure everybody involved are carried along.

"Ensure that each family that owned the mining site give their consent which gave miners right of exploration. Community development agreement is key and must be signed by all concerned parties. Local community liason officer must ensure you follow what is in the agreement which helps in protecting miners investment and the community," Ogah said.

One of the miners, Mohammed Kuta,  lamented over incessant security challenges at their working place,  saying most of the operating sites are no longer safe for them with the activities of armed bandits and kidnappers.
Kuta also lamented that license issued to them is beyond the space they covers saying some of the members of miner association are in court over land issue.