- Alake said mine marshals were accused of bribery, but accusers vanished without returning to present the evidence they promised.
- He revealed that a television station aired a paid report but later apologised publicly after a defamation suit was filed.
The minister of solid minerals development, Dele Alake, has declared that the federal government will not surrender to pressure over the fight against illegal mining.
He explained that certain individuals with long-standing benefits from unlawful mining are attempting to resist reforms through deliberate smear campaigns and blackmail tactics.
Alake made the statement during a performance review retreat held in Abuja for stakeholders in the solid minerals sector.
“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.”
He accused vested interests of orchestrating false allegations against officers enforcing mining regulations through the newly inaugurated mine marshals.
According to him, opponents fabricated bribery claims against the head of the unit in an attempt to frustrate government intervention.
“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.”
Alake also recounted how a television broadcaster was compelled to issue a public apology after airing a misleading report targeting the mine marshals’ leadership.
“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.”
The minister condemned unethical practices by some journalists, noting that misrepresentation and bias were being used to undermine his ministry’s integrity.
He stated, “Like every profession in this degeneration, also in journalism, there’s no balancing of reportage.”
Alake stressed that the federal government remains focused on its reforms and would not be discouraged by smear tactics or false narratives.
“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.”
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