The federal government of Nigeria has recently warned illegal miners to immediately evacuate all mining areas in Zamfara State, stressing that all mining activities remain suspended until standard operating procedures are issued. The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, said in a statement that the government had stepped up its crackdown on illegal mining activities following the recent lead poisoning incident in the state's Bugundu Local Government Area. He noted that the mining ban of the past six years was supposed to prevent such incidents, but the outbreak of lead poisoning shows that traditional and local agencies are seriously violating the ban by allowing illegal miners to operate in their jurisdictions. Alake stressed that every citizen should abide by laws and regulations and that traditional and local institutions have the responsibility to implement government directives. He criticized those agencies for their failures that led to the current mess. To ease the situation, the report by experts and officials from the Ministry of Mines will recommend specific interventions to prevent future disasters. Alake also commended the Zamfara state government for deploying emergency services to the area and called on the state government to strengthen cooperation with officials of the Ministry of Mines to jointly combat illegal miners and protect the lives of innocent citizens. Alake announced that the Ministry of Mines will soon issue a comprehensive standard operating procedure to guide the resumption of mining activities in Zamfara State. These procedures will cover the situation of existing mining licence holders and new applicants, compliance with community development agreements, and value added and remediation work to Reveja a indústria de mineração do estado . Ele também reiterou que o plano recentemente aprovado para implantar a tecnologia de satélite para monitorar as atividades de mineração em todo o país faria um fim para a mineração ilegal e outras práticas más .
