*Governor Agbu Kefas.
Taraba State Governor, Agbu Kefas has alleged that security personnel are facilitating illegal mining operations that are contributing to security challenges in parts of the state.
Speaking on Saturday during a round-table meeting with artisanal and small-scale miners in Jalingo, the state capital, the governor also claimed that some individuals within official government structures have become part of an illegal mining network. He stressed that the problem extends beyond miners operating in remote areas.
“I am aware that security personnel are giving cover to illegal miners to freely operate; I also have fact with me that some persons within government official structures have become part of illegal mining network,” Kefas said.
He vowed that his administration would no longer allow the state’s mineral resources to be exploited outside the government’s regulatory framework.
“Let me make it clear that we would no longer allow mineral resources to be exploited outside the government regulatory framework; we will dismantle any illegal network sustaining illegal mining in the state,” the governor insisted.
Kefas said the state government was determined to understand the structure behind the illegal operations and address it through stronger coordination among security agencies, regulators and mining communities. His administration, he added, is developing a system that would enable genuine miners to operate legally while making it easier for government agencies to identify and deal with those exploiting the state’s mineral resources illegally.
The governor also disclosed that the government is working to replace unsafe mining and processing practices with safer technologies, particularly those involving mercury in gold processing.
He directed the miners’ association to submit a comprehensive list of equipment required by its members, including estimated costs, so the government can explore financing support to acquire and deploy the equipment at designated mining sites.
The latest comments come amid ongoing efforts by the Taraba State Government to curb illegal mining, which authorities have linked to environmental degradation and rising insecurity.
The administration has previously suspended mining activities, issued multiple executive orders, dissolved earlier task forces, and constituted a new anti-illegal mining task force in September 2026.
