#TrackNigeria: Centre for Information, Technology and Development (CITAD), has appealed to the Federal government to lift the ban on mining activities, especially in Kebbi.
The Director of the Centre, Prof. Yunusa Ya’u, made the appeal at a press conference held at the centre in Kano on Tuesday.
He said that a research conducted by the centre in some local government areas of Kebbi, revealed that the ban had rendered about 156,000 people jobless.
“We studied three mining sites namely, Mararrabar Yawuri, Makeri in Ngaski local government and Tungan Zakara in Shanga local government area.’’
He said that mining had been a large employer of labour in Kebbi, but the industry came to a standstill with the increasing rate of violence in Zamfara, which led to a ban on mining activities in the region.
The implications of the ban according to the centre, has been visible in the communities with increased theft, which might escalate to confrontations.
The centre, therefore, appealed to the government to lift the ban and open the mining sites especially as the operators were operating legally.
The centre urged all relevant agencies to provide close monitoring of the mining sites.
It also appealed that the government establish a mechanism for ensuring that mining products were accurately captured to ensure transparency and accountability. (NAN)
