The Akwa Ibom State Government has directed the Chinese company, Ruitai, to halt its mining activities in the state.
The activities are to be stopped until it receives proper clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources.
Commissioner Uno Uno, in charge of Environment and Mineral Resources, issued the order during an unannounced visit to the firm’s mining site.
The site is in Esuk Ikim Akeme community, Ibeno Local Government Area.
The inspection team, including Brig-Gen. Koko Essien (retd), the Commissioner for Internal Security, conducted the visit on Monday.
Following the visit, Commissioner Uno explained during a media interaction on Tuesday that the inspection revealed the presence of black clay-like minerals stored in 50-kilogram sacks, identified by the miners as Titanium Ore.
To ensure compliance with regulations, the state government wants Ruitai to pause its operations until proper authorization is secured from the Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources.
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 legitimising 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 authorising 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“That all security operatives should be withdrawn from the mining site, while the DPO of Ibeno LGA, SP Victor Ezekwu, should enforce the directive in order to ensure strict compliance,” the statement added.