The Akwa Ibom government has shut down a Chinese firm over illegal mining of Titanium Ore in Ibeno local government area of the state.
Uno Etim Uno, the state commissioner for environment and mineral resources, disclosed this on Tuesday, August 29, in Uyo when he played host to the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Akwa Ibom state council.
This is coming barely two weeks after the government closed down another Chinese company for operating in a residential area and polluting the environment with toxic gases.
Uno said that following a tip-off, his ministry in collaboration with the ministry of internal security on Monday, August 28, embarked on an unscheduled inspection tour of a Chinese-owned mining company, Ruitai Mining Company, in Esuk Ikim Akeme community, Ibeno local government area.
The commissioner said: “The team discovered black clay-like minerals contained in sack bags of 50kg, and described by the miners as Titanium Ore.
“On critical examination of the site amidst tight security, the Managing Director and Director of the company, Zeng Zhonghuan and Huang Ying, were not available at the site. The available staff members could not provide any information or documents.
“At end of the inspection tour, the following anomalies were uncovered about the operations of the company.
“The company, Ruitai Mining Company, is purely an exploration company. Its Board of Directors comprises only Chinese, thus, not eligible to acquire the Small-scale Mining License as claimed.
“The company has not conducted the Environmental Impacts Assessment (EIA) in its mining operations. It has not also submitted the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) among other requirements.”
Uno said that the government has term decided to terminate the company’s mining operations pending when it legitimizes its operations.