The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, said he is facing death threats from individuals and companies whose mining licences were revoked for failing to comply with government regulations.
The minister made the disclosure on Friday at a pre-event press briefing ahead of the 10th edition of the Nigeria Mining Week, scheduled to hold from October 13 to 15, 2025, in Abuja.
“In fact, I have had to triple my personal security because I’ve received several threats from those whose licences were revoked for one form of infraction or the other.
“One even sent me a text message threatening me directly,” Alake said.
He added that those involved are using smear campaign against him while he justified the decision to revoke those affected licences saying, “We came in and started enforcing the regulations that had always existed but were ignored for years.
“Many held licences for over a decade, doing nothing and failing to pay their annual service fees. That kind of impunity cannot continue under our watch.”
