By Albert Akota
Mining Entrepreneurship Stakeholders, (MES) has appealed to the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Interior and Nigeria Correctional Service to expedite action on the request speedy payment of compensations to mining operators for takenover their land and business premises in Karshi, Nasarawa state.
The chairman of the group, Alhaji Aminu Sani Inuwa, made the call yesterday at a press conference in Abuja while briefing journalists, said it members have been passing through financial pain since the invasion of the site in 2018 by the Federal Government.
He noted the construction of a massive ultramodern correctional facility of inmate was used in chasing them away despite acquired the property legally.
Inuwa stated that the invasion of the premises has really disrupted production and crippled the business activities on the site thereby putting all the investments, including bank loans whose interest have continue to grow by the day, at the highest risk.
According to him, “Many of our members and their families have been suffering the socio-economic effects of this development since then.”
“Permit me to clarify an important issue about the legal ownership of the land. This quarry site, massive rocks, was legally obtained by Nino Corporation Limited from the Federal Ministry of Mining and Solid Mineral Development with all necessary documentary evidences.
The claim by the Federal Government was that the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCDA allocated the land to the Nigeria Correctional Service.
“However, after series of meetings between FTCA and Nino Corporation Ltd, the FCTA authority admitted to an error on their side.
This position was in line with Section1 of the Land Use Act of 1978, Section 44 (3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and section 1 of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Acts 2007, all which vest power on the Federal Government to administer all mineral resources in the country”
