The Ilorin Zonal Command of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has once again apprehended five individuals for the possession and transportation of three truckloads of various solid minerals without proper licencing.
The arrested individuals are identified as Dauda Suleiman, Quadri Oladimeji, Abubakar Alhassan, Anas Sanusi, and Auwal Garba. Among them, Quadri Oladimeji and Auwal Garba serve as truck boys, while the rest are truck drivers.
The arrests, conducted along Maraba Road in Ilorin, Kwara State, and Ogbomosho, Oyo State, between March 21 and 22, 2024, followed credible intelligence and surveillance operations carried out over several days.
The suspects were intercepted while transporting solid minerals, including marble stone, white powder, lithium, and lepidolite, to Shagamu and Alakija in Ogun and Lagos States for commercial purposes without the requisite licences. They claim to have been hired for the task.
Details of the trucks recovered from the suspects indicate that Dauda, Abubakar, and Anas were each operating a truck with registration numbers JJJ 206 YG (Lagos), T24413 LA (Lagos), and KNT 635 XP (Niger), respectively.
This recent arrest comes after the Ilorin Zonal Command of the EFCC previously apprehended 41 individuals on February 5, 2024, for suspected involvement in illegal mining activities. During that operation, 12 truckloads of assorted minerals mined without proper licences were impounded. With the latest arrests, the total number of individuals apprehended rises to 46, with 15 vehicles seized in the past month for similar offences.
Upon the conclusion of ongoing investigations, the suspects will be arraigned in court to face appropriate charges.