Four persons have been nabbed by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) over illegal mining and a gas plant in Ebonyi State.

The suspects were arrested in a mining pit in Ameka, Ezza South Local Government Area of the state and Ezzamgbo, Ohaukwu Local Government Area, also in the state.

The command raided the mining pit, arrested the suspects, sealed the pit, and stormed a gas plant in 135 Ezzamgbo that was built within residential buildings and other structures, including churches and shops.Related Posts Gombe NSCDC arrests four for alleged sodomy Wike’s directive: NSCDC vows to rid Abuja of ‘baban bola’ New NSCDC Commander vows to fight against oil bunkering in Imo

Francis Nnadi, the state Commandant of the NSCDC, who led the arrest of the suspects, told journalists at the scene of their arrests that their activities were constituting environmental hazards and were life-threatening.

He wondered why mining should be taking place in a place where people are living and why a gas plant was also established where people live.

Nnadi warned that the command would not allow any activity that would endanger people’s lives and vowed that the suspects would be prosecuted.

He observed that the suspects did not get licences from relevant agencies before engaging in the mining and gas businesses.

“This is almost 2.8 tons of gas plant located where people are living. These are residential buildings, and you can even see that they cook around there.

“You can see children playing around. This is also a church beside this gas plant. We need to let the general public know about the hazardous nature of this business. No requisite documents permit this kind of business in this kind of environment.

“I want to use this opportunity to warn Ebonyi people against such practices. Remember what happened in Los Angeles, the wildfire. This is more hazardous than wildfire. This can engulf the whole community. The suspect is with us and he will appear in court,” Nnadi said.

The suspect, Oge Dandy, said he didn’t know that the gas plant was located where people live, as, according to him, he is based in Plateau State and gave someone money to establish the plant for him.

He opined that he was surprised to see that the plant was sited in such an environment when he returned home last Christmas.

Oge admitted that he did not get approval for the gas plant before it was sited.