Alake Deploys Special Marshals to Smash Illegal Gold Camp as Government Jails Over 150 Mineral Thieves

The federal government has intensified its aggressive campaign to rid the extractive sector of mineral thieves, declaring that there will be absolutely no hiding place for illegal miners or the wealthy elites financing their operations.

The latest warning from the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, follows a highly coordinated sting operation executed by a joint task force across the mineral corridors of the South-West. Acting on actionable intelligence, a combined team of ministry officials from Ogun, Oyo, and Osun states swooped on a sprawling, hidden artisanal gold mining camp located at Ileki-Ijesa, right along the busy Ile-Ife/Ilesa highway.

The raid caught the illicit miners completely off guard. Although several supervisors and operators managed to sprint into the surrounding thickets upon spotting the armed task force, security personnel successfully pinned down and arrested two suspects, identified as Danladi Isa and Musa Kabiru. Investigators revealed that the captured workers, both in their 20s, are already cooperating with state authorities, providing invaluable structural details that will help detectives trace the corporate paper trail back to the cartel’s primary sponsors.

Following the arrests, field engineers dismantled the camp’s heavy operational base and formally sealed off the site under the strict provisions of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act. A comprehensive sweep of the location yielded a massive cache of confiscated mining machinery, including large Lister electricity generators, specialized gold-trapping carpets, high-pressure pumping machines, heavy-duty hoses, and motorcycles used for transporting raw materials out of the bush.

“The establishment of the specialized Mining Marshals has completely transformed the government’s field capacity,” Minister Dele Alake stated in a national update released through his media team. “We have already arrested more than 300 illegal operators and secured the active prosecution of over 150 suspects, including several high-profile foreign nationals who thought they could bypass our laws. This administration has made cleaning up our mineral ecosystem a top-tier national security priority, and the ongoing nationwide operations are entirely irreversible.”

Alake, who also leads the continental African Mineral Strategy Group (AMSG), explained that Nigeria’s internal crackdown is part of a broader, Africa-wide economic awakening. For too long, African nations have allowed their mineral wealth to be pillaged through unregulated, cross-border smuggling channels that bleed local treasuries and fuel rural insecurity. Under the current regulatory push, the ministry is shifting focus toward enforcing local value addition, meaning companies must process raw commodities domestically to create sustainable industries and local jobs.

While field operatives continue to cast an aggressive surveillance net over regional mining zones, the federal government is heavily appealing to traditional rulers and host communities to stop shielding unauthorized operators. By combining intelligence-driven military enforcement with strict community accountability, the ministry aims to transform the solid minerals sector into a transparent, multi-billion-naira pillar that will drive the country’s next phase of economic growth.