Explosion: Mining Activities Will Not Be Banned In Oyo – Makinde

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has said he will not ban mining activities in the state.

He said this while giving a situation report on the explosion which rocked Bodija in Ibadan, the state capital, on Tuesday night.

The areas affected by the incident include Bodija, Agbowo, Eleyele, and Orogun.

The explosion was blamed on illegal miners, who stored explosive devices in one of the buildings in Bodija for causing the explosion.

Makinde while appearing on Channel Television’s Politics Today Programme on Wednesday, said the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) certificate of a mining company indicted for the explosion showed some foreign names as owners.

But when asked during the interview if he was considering banning mining in the state following the incident, Makinde said, “My approach has been a little bit different.

“I will not go out to ban mining activities because there are people who are legally mining in the state. They may be international investors. You will give the impression that this is a lawless environment where we will not obey our contracts, what we signed with people.

“It is a difficult route to take. When we are swimming through the situation we have found ourselves, we will not have a knee-jerk reaction to the issue.”