From Kehinde Victor, Ilorin
The Kwara state government and an indigenous mining company, Victory Crown Associates (VCA), are at loggerheads over the fate of a mining licence, 23572EL, granted by the federal government for the exploration of tantalite in Siringwaria village, Kaima local government area of the state. The licence was approved for VCA on December 16, 2016 to expire on December 15, 2019.
While the firm is insisting its licence has not been revoked by the federal government and thus remains valid, the state government is claiming that it has revoked the licence through the withdrawal of the community consent earlier granted the investor over the mining site.
Company Secretary and legal counsel to the firm, Bashir Oladipo told newsmen at the weekend that one Yomi Johnson, allegedly acting on behalf of the state government as a tax consultant has already taken over the site. He was alleged to have been contracted by the state’s internal revenue agency, KWIRS.
But the state government claimed that it has taken over the site because the firm has been ‘oppressive’ and allegedly failed to perform its expected social responsibilities to its host community.
A letter from the Commissioner for Solid Minerals Development, Alhaji Funmilayo Oniwa, addressed to the traditional ruler of the community also claimed that the firm had failed to pay taxes and royalties to the government.
“This position is unacceptable, hence the approval by Governor AbdulFattah Ahmed for the takeover of the site in overriding public interest and thereby lay the basis for government control of the site through legally acquiring it for the benefit of the people in the area and government of Kwara state”, the letter, dated February 8, 2017, read in part.
The commissioner also announced the appointment of one PAT-KAY Revenue Consultant to continue to operate in the area to generate revenue for government while asking the traditional ruler to revoke his earlier consent for Victory Crown Associates Limited.
However, Bashir, who backed his comments with documents from the Federal Ministry of Solid Mineral Development as well as security agencies whose leadership had intervened on the crisis at various times, accused some officials in Kwara state of frustrating his company’s efforts for selfish reasons, lamenting that they had turned around to describe genuine investors as security risk in the state.
He said: “We have paid royalty to the federal government from the little we had seen on the land but to our dismay up to date, the ministry of solid minerals ifs frustrating us on the land.
“We have been to the House of Assembly, and they supported us. The commissioner for solid minerals saw our licence and said we were free to go there but there are some officials in the ministry who are encouraging the man to work with the illegal miners there who are known to be violent. And our stand is that the ministry that brought Yomi should remove him from there.
“We invited the civil defence, they went there and he pleaded to be given some weeks to relocate and the local government chairman also said he should move in two weeks. That was in the first week of March but up till today, he has not removed the people. The last time we were there the artisanal miners were very violent and we had to leave.
“We have written the civil defence who has power to remove illegal miners, we wrote all stakeholders but up till now the site is still occupied by illegal miners through the connivance and support of some state officials.
“The implication is that the investors who want to come and invest here are being deprived the opportunity and they are making the state to be seen as not being investors friendly. Until the site is fully possessed by the investors, they can’t bring in equipment, they can’t employ people etc. There is no way the state and people of Kwara can benefit from the site now.
“We want the governor to wade in because we believe his first duty is to ensure that the person with the right licence is protected. The impression we have had always from the SSA Minerals is that we must work with Yomi but that is not possible because we are the one with the licence, we are the one to determine who to work with.”
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