BENIN CITY – The Edo Government has assured members of the state chapter of Miners Association of Nigeria (MAN), of provision of adequate security to enable them carry out their operations.
Mr Joseph Oghioke, the Commissioner for Minerals, Oil and Gas, made the promise on Wednesday in Benin, at the end of a quarterly meeting held with MAN’s members.
Oghioke said the decision reached at the meeting was to include the association into the Edo Security Architecture.
He said that “Operation Wabaizigan” was yielding positive results in Benin.
“There are issues of kidnapping and robbery in some parts of the state and this is affecting mining activities particularly in Edo North.
“We will ensure that within the next two weeks, all mine workers will have a database that the government security can key into.
“The intention of government is to extend the Operation Wabaizigan to other parts of the state,’’ he said.
Chairman of MAN, Mr Michael Okhumode, decried insecurity in the state which, he said, was a major challenge affecting members’ activities.
Okhumode said members of the association had laid their complaints to the state government and the commissioner agreed to include them in the state security architecture.
