Nigeria lost 9 billion to the export of proceeds of illegal mining activities between 2014 and 2015, the federal government disclosed yesterday.
Making this disclosure at the end of weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting which was held in the conference room of the Office of the First Lady in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said the $9 billion loss in the sector was contained in a recent report by the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
The minister said the loss is from such illegally exported items as gold, lead, zinc, tin and coal.
He said if Nigeria could stop the spate of illegal activities by Nigerians and their foreign collaborators, the revenue from the sector would significantly improve.
He said the Federal Executive Council approved N987m for the procurement of 50 Hilux vehicles to enable the special mines taskforce to monitor and curb illegal mining activities in all the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
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