THE IMO STATE GOVERNMENT HAS ANNOUNCED AN IMMEDIATE AND TOTAL BAN ON ALL FORMS OF MINING AND DREDGING ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE OWERRI CAPITAL TERRITORY.

THE STATE GOVERNMENT CITED WIDESPREAD ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION CAUSED BY UNCONTROLLED SAND MINING.

THE COMMISSIONER FOR INDUSTRY, MINES AND SOLID MINERALS, ERNEST IBEJIAKO, WHO ANNOUNCED THIS DURING A MEETING WITH RELEVANT STAKEHOLDERS IN THE MINING AND DREDGING SECTOR HELD IN OWERRI, SAID THE DECISION FOLLOWED YEARS OF UNREGULATED MINING THAT HAD RESULTED IN DEVASTATING FLOODS, SOIL EROSION, AND THE COLLAPSE OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE ACROSS THE CITY.