A Chief Magistrates’ Court in Iyaganku, Ibadan, on Monday, ordered the remand of 41 illegal miners in the Agodi Correctional Facility.
They stand accused of illegally mining gold, an act that allegedly resulted in the extraction of property valued at N1.248 million belonging to the Oyo State Government.
The defendants, whose addresses were not disclosed, pleaded guilty to the charges brought against them.
Chief Magistrate Mrs. O. O. Ogunkanmi, refraining from taking the plea of the defendants, directed that they be remanded at the Agodi Correctional Facility pending further review of the case file by the Oyo State Ministry of Justice.
The matter was adjourned until February 6 for a substantive hearing.
The police leveled accusations of conspiracy and illegal mining against the defendants, including Babangida Salihu, 25, Adamu Sanni, 39, Abdulaziz Lawal, 18, Mamman Ibrahim, 50, and 37 others who were arraigned on the two counts.
Inspector Sikiru Opaleye, the police prosecutor, alleged that the defendants and others at large conspired to commit the offense. He stated that on January 25, the defendants purportedly extracted 24.96 grams of gold from an illegal mine at Onipanu village, Ilaju, Ibadan, unlawfully concealing it without the consent and authority of the Oyo State Government. The estimated value of the gold was pegged at N1.248 million, extracted from land owned by the Oyo State Government.
The prosecutor cited violations of Sections 516 and 396 of the Criminal Code Laws of Oyo State 2000.
