Over 100 illegal miners have been arrested in Yakurr Local Government Area of Cross River State.

The miners were arrested in a sting operation reportedly led by the Cross River State Security Adviser, Maj. General (retd) O. U. Obono.

The illegal miners, suspected to be foreigners, were arrested on Saturday morning as they attempted to evade an army checkpoint in Ugep.

The suspects were said to have boarded several empty trucks commuting through the area from the northern part of the state and were bound for Calabar, the state capital.

The majority of them are said to be between the ages of 12 and 26 and were apprehended with diggers, shovels, drilling machines, and attendant earth drilling gear.

Security personnel who interrogated the suspects on the ground confirmed that, in their profiling, several of them confessed to being non-Nigerians.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Irene Ugbo, said she had not been briefed on the arrest.

Cross River State has been besieged in recent times by a large number of foreign miners who come to illegally exploit natural resources in its forests.

Last year, Bette Philip Obi, a member representing Boki 1 State Constituency, raised an alarm as over 1,000 illegal miners had invaded his community.

The lawmaker revealed this at the Cross River State House of Assembly while sponsoring a matter of Urgent Public Importance on the encroachment of foreign miners in Okwa 1 and 2 and Ukwango communities in Boki Local Government Area.

A late-night fire swept through Ipetumodu’s well-known weekly marketplace, Akinola Market, on Friday and destroyed goods valued at millions.

The fire reportedly started in the area where yams are kept.

Many traders, who had closed for the day hours earlier, rushed back to the scene in distress after receiving news of the fire.

“I was called late on Friday. I had left the market about four hours earlier. The part affected is the stalls where yam sellers usually keep their produce. Those who contacted us also informed NSCDC operatives, and they responded. But the destruction was massive,” a trader said.

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) confirmed the incident on Saturday, attributing the fire to negligence during waste disposal.

NSCDC’s spokesperson, Kehinde Adeleke, explained that the fire likely started from refuse burning.

Adeleke said, “Akinola Market in Ipetumodu was gutted by a late-night fire on Friday, 10th January 2025. The fire broke out in a section of the market where foodstuffs, particularly yams, were being sold.

“Properties and foodstuffs worth millions of naira were destroyed. Preliminary investigations revealed that the fire started from refuse set ablaze by yet-to-be-identified individuals after the close of business on Friday.

“Akinola Market is a weekly market held every Friday. After the last market day, traders collected their refuse for burning but negligently left the fire unextinguished before heading home, which led to the inferno. Upon receiving a distress call, we immediately deployed operatives to the scene.”

The Kebbi State Police Command has confirmed the killing of four persons by suspected Lakurawa bandits in Gumki village, Arewa Local Government Area of the state.

The command’s Public Relations Officer, CSP Nafiu Abubakar, disclosed this in a statement issued on Saturday evening on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, CP Bello Sani.

The statement revealed that the victims included one resident of the area and three staff members of Airtel Communications Nigeria Limited, who were working on a surveillance mast installation for the Nigeria Immigration Service.

According to the statement, the attack occurred on 10 January 2025, around 8:47 pm at a construction site in Gumki, a community located along the Nigeria-Niger Republic border.

The bandits reportedly stormed the site, killing four people.

“On receiving the report, the Commissioner of Police, Kebbi State Command, CP Bello M. Sani, alongside the Comptroller of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Kebbi State Command, CIS Muhammad Bashir Lawali, swiftly mobilised to the scene and evacuated the corpses to Sir Yahaya Memorial Hospital, Birnin Kebbi,” the statement read.

The statement added that the CP immediately reviewed the security architecture of the affected area and deployed additional tactical teams to tackle the suspected bandits decisively.

“The CP charged the tactical teams to decisively deal with suspected Lakurawa bandits operating in the area,” the statement added.

To restore calm and strengthen security, CP Sani convened a meeting with critical stakeholders in the area.

During the meeting, he urged residents to cooperate with security agencies by providing timely and relevant information to enable prompt responses.