The House of Representatives has raised the alarm over the influx of local and foreign illegal miners into Benue State.
The Green Chamber said if the trend is left unchecked, Benue would become the next banditry hotspot, just like Zamfara State, where illegal gold mining led to the escalation of insecurity.
The House therefore called on the National Security Adviser and the security agencies to review the security situation within the Middle Belt and the Nigerian-Cameroonian Border areas in Benue.
The lawmakers also charged the security agencies to implement urgent and proactive steps to curb further deterioration of peace and security in the Middle Belt.
The resolution of the House was sequel to the adoption of a motion on the need for urgent intervention in the Nigeria – Cameroon refugee crisis, as well as banditry and environmental pollution arising from the discovery and mining of gold in Kwande Local Government of Benue State.
The motion was moved during plenary on Tuesday by Terseer Ugbor.
The lawmaker, while moving the motion, said Kwande LGA borders Cameroon on the North, Cross River to the East and Taraba to the West.
Ugbor pointed out that the Cameroonian refugees, who were first in Menev Ward before moving to Ikyogen Cattle Ranch, have lived there for over five years with their population now exceeding 12,000 as they continue to procreate, expand and integrate into Nigerian society.
He stressed that over the past few days, 16 persons have been killed along the Ugbema – Jato Aka road due to the internal crisis between neighbouring communities.
According to him , the crisis between the Cameroonian military and the separatist Ambazonian fighters spilled over and created a refugee crisis at the Nigeria-Cameroon border in Kwande LGA.
He lamented that the local government has suffered violent attacks termed as farmers-herders clashes, which left many indigenes either dead, badly injured or homeless, without farmlands and other sources of livelihood for over 10 years, especially the people of Turan and Ikyurav-ya districts.
He said: “Many of these refugees have obtained the Nigerian Identity Number (NIN) ID Card thereby making them now Nigerians without formal proclamation.
“They now seek voting rights – to be allowed to vote and be voted for.
“Also I am aware that over the last several years another dimension to the insecurity in Benue and particularly in Kwande local government has been the discovery of Gold, Lithium and other precious minerals.
“The influx of local and foreign illegal miners infiltrating the region has caused daily security unrest, environmental pollution and possible food crisis as most able-bodied young men and women have abandoned their farmlands for mining sites.
“If this trend is left unchecked, Benue will become the next banditry hotspot just like the case of Zamfara State over the last several years due to the illegal gold mining.”
