Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has announced a fresh security crackdown in response to growing concerns over criminal infiltration in mining communities across the state, especially within the Ife Ijesa axis.
The governor unveiled the measures on Tuesday during a stakeholders’ conference in Osogbo, where security chiefs, traditional rulers, mining operators, environmental advocates and community representatives gathered to address the security challenges facing Osun’s mining sector.
Speaking through his Special Adviser on Security, Samuel Ojo, Adeleke said the meeting became necessary because of emerging threats capable of disrupting the peace and stability the state has long enjoyed. He noted that the government could no longer ignore troubling developments around mining communities, particularly the increasing movement of unfamiliar groups into those areas.
According to the governor, the state has become deeply concerned about what it described as a sudden and poorly regulated influx of people from some northern states into mining settlements across Osun. He listed Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi among the states linked to the movement, stressing that while the government has no issue with Nigerians relocating in search of lawful means of livelihood, available intelligence suggests that the situation may go beyond legitimate mining activity.
Adeleke said reports reaching the government indicate that some of the new arrivals may be attempting to replicate criminal patterns that have devastated parts of north western Nigeria. He warned that the signs being picked up include the establishment of armed camps, illegal taxation, youth recruitment and the creation of parallel structures of control in local communities.
He said Osun must not allow its peace to be traded for mineral wealth, warning that failure to act early could open the door to the kind of insecurity that has destabilised other parts of the country.
The governor commended security agencies and community based actors for their vigilance so far, but said the state is now shifting greater attention to threats linked directly to mining operations. He disclosed that credible intelligence had already pointed to the presence of suspected bandit elements around the Ibodi forest area, as well as reports of suspicious armed movement along the Ilesa corridor.
He also raised concern over the alleged presence of foreign nationals and other non Nigerians in some communities, accusing some of them of operating under false identities. According to him, security findings suggest that some of these individuals have been speaking local languages, carrying fake identification documents and presenting themselves as indigenes of other Nigerian states in a bid to avoid suspicion.
Adeleke said the government believes the objective of such infiltration is not mining, but the gradual establishment of operational footholds within vulnerable communities. He therefore urged traditional rulers and local leaders to work closely with security agencies by helping to identify, document and profile everyone living and operating within their domains.
As part of the new security framework, the governor announced the establishment of a mining community intelligence structure for the Ife Ijesa area. He explained that the system will connect mining sites, community security committees, traditional rulers, divisional police officers and the State Security Council under the direct supervision of the governor’s office.
He also directed that every major mining community in the affected areas must set up a seven member Community Security Committee within 14 days as part of efforts to strengthen grassroots intelligence gathering and early response.
Adeleke further called on all stakeholders to cooperate fully with the military, the police, the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Amotekun Corps in securing mining communities and preventing criminal groups from taking root in the state.
He maintained that Osun will not become a safe haven for bandits, insisting that the state’s mineral resources must never be turned into a source of funding for terrorism. He urged residents, traditional institutions, miners and security agencies to work together in building the intelligence network needed to protect communities and preserve peace across the state.
