The Kogi State Government has banned the operations of miners using crude methods in mining in the state as two of their colleagues were killed at a mining site in Olamaboro LGA.
The Commissioner for Solid Minerals and Natural Resources, Engr Bashiru Gegu, issued the directive at the weekend when he visited the scene of the incident at Omelewu village.
City & Crime gathered on Monday that the two workers were killed on the spot when a mining wall collapsed on them at the weekend, leaving many with injuries.
Gegu decried the crude ways mining was being carried out, noting that they were unacceptable.
He directed the two companies which have mining licences in the area: Exodus Mining Company Ltd and Ara Minerals Integrated Nigeria Ltd, and the citizens of the community who had resorted to mining coal illegally using the cadastral units of the companies without their consent to stop immediately.
Meanwhile, the Kogi State Government has directed the Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to investigate and bring to book any erring citizen found engaging in illegal mining activities in the state.