Dele Alake: We won’t bow to blackmail on illegal mining clampdown

Dele Alake, minister of solid minerals development, says the federal government will not back down from its efforts to curb illegal mining despite growing blackmail and smear campaigns.

Speaking at a retreat to evaluate the solid minerals sector in Abuja, Alake said resistance is mounting from individuals who have long benefitted from unregulated mining activities and are threatened by the government’s reforms.

“The challenges that I’ve seen, in a nutshell, are not administrative at all; they are external,” he said.

“First, on the security, the efforts that we’ve made so far in curbing or stemming the tide of insecurity and illegal mining operations are facing serious pushback from those who are benefiting from the nefarious activities.”

Alake said the establishment of mine marshals—a special enforcement unit—has drawn attacks from opponents who have resorted to false bribery accusations.

“In fact, some came to say that the leader of the mine marshals is asking them for bribes and that they’ve paid him bribes,” he said.

“I said, ‘wow, this is what I’ve been looking for. Please give me the evidence.’

“One of them said he was coming back the following day with the evidence. That was six months ago. I’m yet to see him.”

The minister said one television station was recently forced to retract and apologise after it aired a paid report falsely accusing the head of the marshals of wrongdoing.

“At some point, the man came to me to say one medium blackmailed him,” Alake said.

“I said, ‘well, did you do it?’ He said no, he didn’t do it. I said, okay, get a lawyer to sue that medium. And he did.

“Forty-eight hours later, that same medium, a TV station, put up a public apology because they were paid to do the hatchet job.”

He blamed the attacks on unethical elements within the media, saying, “like every profession in this degeneration, also in journalism, there’s no balancing of reportage.”

The minister said the ministry remains focused on its mission and will not yield to pressure, noting that President Bola Tinubu’s insistence on transparency and accountability is driving the actions.

“Our hands are on the plough, and there’s no looking back,” he said.

“I am not going to remove anybody from the mine marshals except if I see concrete evidence of malfeasance or misdemeanour.

“But I am one person that never buckles under any blackmail. No inducement can sway me at all. So, we are confronting that challenge as well.”