The Rumuokarali/Rumualogu settlement is located in the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps said that its agents detained 34 people for allegedly engaging in illegal mining operations there.
The corps added that a guy named Daniel Mathew had been detained after allegedly enticing a 15-year-old girl to a hotel in Port Harcourt where he attempted to defile her.
While presenting the suspects to reporters in Port Harcourt, the state capital, NSCDC Commandant for the region, Basil Igwebueze, revealed this.
According to Igwebueze, the arrests were made possible by reliable information and the work of the NSCDC patrol team, the Solid Minerals Unit, the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel, and the Ministerial Task Force on Illegal Mining.
Igwebueze claimed that participants in the operation included representatives from the Department of State Services, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigeria Immigration Service, and the police.
“The 34 suspects were caught in the act of illegally dredging sharp sands, causing environmental degradation in the area, three dredging machines were recovered at the crime scene,” the speaker claimed.
However, in Choba, Obio/Akpo Local Government Area, “he managed to escape through the back gate of a nearby hotel.”In addition, a Chinese guy was seen at the crime scene; evidence revealed that he is well-known for engaging in illegal mining activities.