Balarabe Sule, the commissioner of police in Cross River State, has made known that he plans to meet with host communities and miners in the state’s Biase LGA.
Recall that there have been several conflicts and protests over illicit mining in that LGA over the years, which allegedly led to armed robberies and reported tensions.
The clan chief of the Akpet Nation, HRH Sunday Evong, had expressed concern about armed men who had supposedly been brought in by illegal miners invading his clan and seizing vast tracts of land.
It would also be recalled that the state government had banned all mining activities but these have been going on unabated and there have been a continual collapse of mines, deaths of some miners, especially underaged ones and communal unarrests.
In a report monitored over Sparkling FM radio in Calabar, the police commissioner disclosed that by early January 2023, his command will meet with Biase community stakeholders as well as identified miners with a view to resolving all issues that lead to their disagreement.
He maintained that the miners cannot enter and operate in any community without the support and cooperation of the locals.
Sule assured that the festive period will witness peace, assuring that his men have been deployed to such mining and other places in the stage to contain any likely breach of the peace.
“By the early week of January next year, my command will interface with miners and local communities in Biase LGA.
“I want to say that the miners cannot operate without the support and knowledge of the people of the communities.”