INSIDE OYO NATIONAL PARK: HOW ILLEGAL MINING HAS TURNED A PROTECTED FOREST INTO A LAWLESS COMMUNITY. As some of you might recall, i did a light report about illegal mining carried out in Old Oyo National Park which is linked to Kwara State as well in 2023. After the... report which, I remembered reaching out to Ministry of Mining, a taskforce was established to curtail the activities of the miners, it worked effectively especially at the Oyo state side but it wasn't working effectively in Kwara state. After the killings of 5 National Park personnel by bandits last week, which I broke the news, I carried out an investigation to see the level of compliance at the Old Oyo National Park where lithium mining activity is going, then i discovered the said mining has become a full blown community. The current number of illegal miners operating at Old Oyo National Park is estimated to be between 200,000 and 400,000, including individuals involved in buying and selling activities at the site. According to my research , there is nothing sold outside the illegal mining site that is not also sold within the site. Items sold include foodstuffs, soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, and various forms of hard drugs. There is also the presence of sex workers who render their services to illegal miners inside grass huts constructed within the area. Additionally, medical drugs and medical items such as needles, injections, and intravenous fluids are openly sold at the site. Explosives are also sold to illegal miners and are used for blasting lithium during excavation. There are thousands of blacksmiths on site who fabricate various tools used for illegal mining activities, including shovels, diggers, chisels, and hammers. There is a high rate of child labour at the illegal mining site, also known as Daba. These children are used mainly for sorting lithium from rocks. The illegal mining site is divided into two sections: the Yoruba illegal mining section and the Hausa/Fulani illegal mining section. Both sections are located within Old Oyo National Park. The road leading to the illegal mining site (Daba) is not motorable. Access to the site is only possible by motorcycle. All extracted lithium is transported by motorcycles to Bonni, Igbeti, or Soro in Kishi. This indicates that illegal miners access the mining site through Igbeti, Kishi, and Bonni. As at the time of writing this report, many empty trucks are observed entering through Igbeti, Oyo State, heading directly to Bonni, and passing through Bonni to Jeba Oloru, Kwara State, from where the lithium is transported to destinations of their choice. They operate within the confines of laws established by the illegal miners’ chairman, popularly known as “CD.” Anyone who commits the crime of stealing is punished by death. The area is so enclosed that outsiders can be fished out by them. A bike man who carries lithium from the forest to the truck earns ₦12,000 per bag. One bag of lithium weighs 100kg, and they carry two bags, making 200kg. The miners are so familiar with the area that they can easily move to Igbeti, Kishi, and Bonni in Kwara State from the forest while evading security forces without being noticed, because many of them have been living in the forest for more than three years without seeing the outside world. It is imperative that both the Kwara State Government, Oyo State Government, and the Federal Government get hold of this before it becomes a security problem for the whole country. Illegal mining in Old Oyo National Park is progressing, not regressing.show more

@NuhuRibadu @AlakeDele @KemPatriot

@NuhuRibadu @AlakeDele @KemPatriot They need to empty that illegal mining site

@woye1 @NuhuRibadu @AlakeDele It is illegal, no one gave them licence to mine in the forest reserves. #KemKem

@woye1 @NuhuRibadu @AlakeDele Remember my conversation with you on this same very mining site last year or so? Well it has grown to be a monster now.

@woye1 @NuhuRibadu @AlakeDele Yes I do , the relevant authorities were alerted and have been re-alerted #KemKem

@woye1 @NuhuRibadu @AlakeDele I will be on a look out to see if anything has been done.

This is real investigative reporting. I can only say that God bless you for all you have done. As the Holy book says; tell them whether they listen or not.

Thank you 😘

At this rate, banditry will become full blown if action isn’t taken… before it’s too late.

It will become an enterprise in SW if care is not taken

In Jos, they carry each bag for N4,000. With the natural resources in Nigeria, we don't have business borrowing Foolishly. NSA @NuhuRibadu & HM @AlakeDele, this madness must stop. We're losing heavy liquidity to these criminals.

@NuhuRibadu @AlakeDele 4,000 that's cheaper, imagine 12k per bag and they will move to fill trailers

@NuhuRibadu @AlakeDele Mostly the locals are into this. In the name of " Niger Delta people are selling their oil too and the government is still giving them 13% derivation". The foreigners that are in these fields are making millions of dollars for their country's development.

@NuhuRibadu @AlakeDele You are correct, they collect 20k from Trucks to gain access to park in the village then, you proceed to take a bike to the illegal mining site.

wtf, this is crazy… heard bout this before didn’t know it worsen

It has worsened oh

Everything said here in the report is what I can confirm. My community is very close to the said area of (DABA) and this has already been creating panic and tense environment for few years due to influx of strange faces in to the community including Fulani herdsmen

This is heartbreaking. Here's my multilayered thread on the Old Oyo National Park from 2021. Already feels like a lost era.

Anywhere you find gold in Nigeria, bandits are always within the region.

Well that's not gold but lithium

Nice one!! You are brilliant 🙌🏾🙌🏾… This is not all illegal mining sites though …. There are companies that mine legally there. Authorities sabi all These things. Thank you for all you do, make we Just Dey do awareness for Nigerians.,.. God bless all your hard work.

This very one is from the National Park, someone from the mining office has confirmed they are operating illegally

Okay, I see … we use NMCO Ibadan zonal office + Old Oyo National Park. if you’d like write the management, requesting. List of valid mineral titles (holders, title co) there are over 10 companies listed operating igbeti axis. To narrow it down on our side, we see if these licenses overlap these parks, then we go from there. Them wan shine us.. no gree for them lol

I will see what I can do

Please stay safe 🙏🏾

You too

Mining have always been a major problem, the ungoverned zones of Nigeria. Well done

Thanks man

Thank you for a through research work and highly risky. May God bless you and your team. God bless Nigeria

Amen thank you

@GallantDaletian Kudos to you and your team for this alert and reporting.

Are you saying SW Govs don't know even with there summit and creation of Amoteku...🤔🤔🤔

If they know, it won't expand

Boss,to be honest with you they know but we are not yet to tackle it .

I want to give them a benefit of doubt that they don't know

@sewedoh I am telling you for that they know. About 2 or 3 years ago, about 2 forest guards working for the Oyo parks were killed by fulanis engaged in illegal mining in the park, yet nothing was done. If i find the link I will tag you to it.

@sewedoh Lol i also reported the incident

@sewedoh These illagal mining are not done by Northerners alone, even locals and different tribes are found there, including foreigners. Some of the illegal miners are funded and supported with explosives by the middlemen who buy the produce from them.

@sewedoh Yes you are correct

Well done, this thing go help anybody wey no sabi to shine their eye. Like everything for Nigeria, big picture dey. Na there government suppose face. This lithium matter no be forest wahala. Na national supply chain problem. Wetin Dey Happen After Dem Dig The Lithium Once dem dig lithium comot from Old Oyo National Park, e no just disappear. E follow clear steps. As you talk, dem move am comot forest. Bike men carry am from bush go Bonni, Igbeti, Kishi. From there, truck enter. Middlemen take over . Na here the real money start. Aggregators buy everything. Dem no ask question. Dem just want volume. Paper laundering start. Dem go label am as legal mineral. Dem go say na artisanal mining. Dem go create paper. Sometimes government stamp dey inside. Truck cross state line. Once e reach Kwara side, na new jurisdiction. Everybody hands clean again. Export am raw. Nigeria no dey process lithium. So dem export raw ore go China, India, UAE. Na there dem refine am into battery grade lithium. Global market chop. EVs, batteries, power storage.Everybody happy. Nigeria remain with dead forest and bandits. Why All This Dey Continue Because government dey fight small picture. Dem dey chase poor miners inside bush. But dem no dey touch: Aggregators. Truck owners. Export licenses. Ports. Customs. Paper trail. You fit kill 1,000 miners today. Tomorrow 5,000 go enter. Wetin Government Suppose Do Instead If government serious, na five big steps. Block aggregation points: Bonni, Igbeti, Kishi. Na there lithium turn from illegal to legal. Shut that junction, everything stop. Audit lithium exporters. Anybody wey don export lithium in last five years. Where dem get am from. Show pit. Show coordinates. No story. Ban raw lithium export. No processing, no export. If dem no build refinery, dem no export. Federal task force, not state drama. This thing don cross Oyo and Kwara. Na federal matter. Mining, customs, ports, security. Occupy the park, no be raid. Permanent security base. No go and come. Stay there. The Truth We No Like Hear Illegal mining no dey survive because miners smart. E dey survive because paper dey work. Once paper clean, crime clean. If government no attack the paper, the trucks, and the ports, dem just dey do film trick for bush. Final Word Nigeria always dey fight symptom. Never cause. This lithium matter fit turn to full blown security crisis if dem no act now. Big picture first. Everything else na noise.

We have complained about this 2 years ago when the illegal mining start but .....

Can i dm you, i can see you are a geologist, to discuss more issue.

I'd love to but ...

Your information is accurate, but what you forgot to mention is that the government also collect revenue. Per 22 tire truck they collect 1,000,080 mil. And on a normal day the number of trucks that go out of Bani are over 40. Security agencies on the road also collect their own.

Everywhere in Nigeria is mineral rich From north, middle-belt, south, east etc. Nigeria is rich I can't Overemphasize that our poverty is deliberate.

I fear that axis than even Niger and Bornu state as at now. Kwara State is not proactive at all......I foresee this happening since 2018

This is dangerous

More dangerous

@undespicableice @Daviddbomb

Unless we want to lie to ourselves, both the Oyo State Government and Federal government knows watsup.

No wonder

These are my areas in Oke Ogun, Oyo state. There was a boom in the illegal mining in Sepeteri some years ago. This is really disturbing

@honchoPY One good news out of this country ffs

It is already a security problem. Bandits and terrorists are used to drive away indigenous people when there is mineral deposit for illegal exploitation.

This is how DR Congo started, before you know it turned to a conflict zone, the government has a hand in it 💯 If we don't resist this government which was imposed on us by the USA then we risk turning our Nigeria into another Sudan. That was how it started in the North

A lot of people have absolutely no idea that there is any natural resources in Old Oyo National Park in Oyo town, now I understand why they fought hard for it not to be developed and why some are fighting for a small town like Oyo to be a State Capital

@iamNeare @Big_Mck @b_tella

This is brilliant, well done!

This is a great read. I hope the Governments of Oyo and Kwara States are going to act swiftly on this. The Law Enforcement bodies should also wade in. Thank you for your great work.

@oyostategovt @FeedbackOYSG @Oyoaffairs please look into this

Great job. Uhmm! D illegal activities has been going on 4 over 3 decades. Then illegal minners were integral part of the host. Sensitization is near zero. D Comu didn't know dia gains if govt takeover d site. Sometimes they threaten d chiefs & give token 2 shield dia actvts