During a search on an illegal mining location in the Federal Capital Territory’s Gwagwalada Area Council, 98 suspected illegal miners were taken into custody by soldiers of the 176 Guards Battalion under Operation MESA.
Zagazola Makama, a security and counterinsurgency specialist in the Lake Chad region, revealed this in a post on X.
According to Makama, the operation was carried out on March 23 at around 5:55 p.m. in response to information concerning illicit mining operations in the region. The forces rushed the location and captured the suspects without any opposition.
One car, eight motorcycles, five pumping machines, twenty-seven shovels, seven sledgehammers, twenty-two diggers, three head pans, five mining mats, and a bag of charcoal were among the things found during the operation, according to the source.
He declared, “The Guards Brigade Provost Group has been given the arrested suspects for additional investigation and necessary action.”
