The government of Akwa Ibom State has instructed a Chinese company, Ruitai to cease all mining activities in the state until it has received the necessary approval from the Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources.
Uno Uno, the state’s Commissioner for Environment and Mineral Resources, issued the directive on Tuesday while on an impromptu inspection visit of the company’s mining site in the Esuk Ikim Akeme community of the Ibeno Local Government Area.
On Monday, Brig-Gen. Koko Essien (retd), the commissioner’s counterpart at the Ministry of Internal Security, accompanied him to the location.
However, addressing newsmen after the inspection, Uno claimed that the inspection team had found materials that looked like black mud and were contained in 50-kilogram sacks, which the miners had recognized as titanium ore.
He said, “On critical examination of the site amidst tight security, the Managing Director and Director of the company, Zeng Zhonghuan and Huang Ying, were not available at the site. The available staff members could not provide any information or documents.
“At the end of the inspection tour, we were able to discover that the company is purely an exploration company. Its Board of Directors comprises only Chinese, thus, not eligible to acquire the Small-scale Mining License as claimed.
“We also discovered that the Company has not conducted the Environmental Impacts Assessment in its mining operations and has not submitted the Environmental Management Plan, among other abnormalities.”
The commissioner said in view of the above anomalies, the inspection team recommended, “That Ruitai Mining Company should terminate its mining operations forthwith until due clearance legitimizing its operations is completed with the state government.
“That the Company should approach the Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources on or before Friday, 1st September 2023, with all the relevant papers authorizing its operations, with full coordination of the area approved for its mining operations.”
“That all security operatives should be withdrawn from the mining site, while the DPO of Ibeno LGA, SP Victor Ezekwu, should enforce the directive in order to ensure strict compliance,” the statement added.
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