Illegal mining: Your allegation is false, baseless, retired military generals reply Oshiomhole
Retired military generals have said that allegations of their involvement in illegal mining in the country leveled against them by former governor of Edo State and the Chairman, Senate Committee on Interior,
Adams Oshiomole is false and baseless.
They accused Oshiomhole of speaking falsehood saying no Nigerian retired general is involved in illegal mining in the northern part of the country.
In their reaction to.the allegation , they accused the former Edo State governor of attempting to tarnish their image and integrity.
‘As a retired general, your priority is Nigeria. Mining is not meant for just an ordinary person who does not have the resources and licenses to engage in it. Therefore, any allegation that any person is bringing up is just a falsehood and just to paint a dog black in order to kill it,” said. a former Commander of 1 Division, Nigerian Army, Brig. Gen. John Sura (retd.).
Sura noted that after retirement, many retired military generals live in solitude away from public glare and relying on their pensions while few venture into politics, adding that retired military personnel are contributing to the growth of Nigeria economy and working for its stability.
He accused Oshiomhole of disrespecting both serving and retired military generals with his ‘baseless’ allegations.
Also reacting, Gen. Bashir Adewinbi (retd.) accused Oshiomhole of misinforming Nigerians saying he was unaware of any retired general involved in illegal mining.
“As far as I am concerned, I am not aware of any retired general behind illegal mining in Nigeria. There is no reason for that. That is misinformation,” he said.
It is recalled that Oshiomhole had, on Friday, said some unnamed retired military generals are involved in illegal mining activities. He accused them of providing weapons to protect foreigners working at mining sites.
Oshiomhole had also said past governments have not been able to stop them alleging those involved are powerful individuals
“The ongoing illegal mining across the country is being carried out by retired generals and we know them. Yes, we know them. I wrote a letter to former President Muhammadu Buhari on the matter when he was in office.
“This is because a team that I sent to go and conduct a primary election somewhere reported back to me the challenge of conducting primary elections in Zamfara because of the illegal miners.The team told me that those illegal miners procure arms the same way the military is doing in South Sudan,” Oshiomhole had said.