A truck is packed with crushed granite at a mining plant in Zamfara, Nigeria. April 21, 2016. REUTERS/Afolabi SotundeA truck is packed with crushed granite at a mining plant in Zamfara, Nigeria. April 21, 2016.
“The government is looking at what measures to take in terms of addressing, bridging, and blocking the associated sources of funding and indeed…the possibility or otherwise of suspending, for the time being, mining activities, is being considered as well by the government,” he said.Nigeria is not a major mining jurisdiction but illegal gold mining also takes place in north western states, including Zamfara, Kaduna and Niger, where armed gangs, known locally as bandits are rife.
Malami said the government was also looking at possibly restricting the use of motorcycles, widely used by citizens and popular among bandits.