Cross River National Park Arrests 17 Over Illegal Mining as Licence Overlap Sparks Dispute

Seventeen suspected illegal miners have been arrested inside the Cross River National Park, but the operation has exposed a wider dispute over whether some mining licences may have been issued over protected areas.

The suspects were arrested by the Special Anti-Poaching Squad following intelligence about mining activities in Ekuri Eyenyen and Etara communities in Etung Local Government Area, according to the park’s Conservator, CP Joseph Ntui Assam.

Assam said mining, hunting, logging, farming encroachment and water poisoning were prohibited within the national park. He warned that such activities could create security, environmental and public health problems.

He also linked illegal mining to land degradation and pollution of streams and farmland around the affected communities, saying residents had been left with reduced access to safe drinking water.

But the arrests have raised questions about how some mining operations obtained their licences in the first place. Assam alleged that licences issued by the Mining Cadastre Office in Abuja and the Federal Mines Office in Calabar had overlapped with areas reserved for the national park.

One company at the centre of the dispute is B4Live Integrated Services, registered by Ekpo Mbang Eno. Cross River Commissioner for Mineral Resources Effiom-Ekaha Otu confirmed that the company was known to the state ministry and held a federal mining licence.

Otu, however, said the licence may have extended into a reserved area and that the matter would require clarification from the Mining Cadastre Office. He stressed that an overlap would not automatically mean the licence holder was operating illegally.

Records at the Federal Mines Office showed that B4Live had received a small-scale mining lease covering two cadastral units in Ekuri. Federal Mines Officer in Cross River, Engr. Ayelabola Olubunmi, acknowledged that overlaps between mining licences and protected areas can occur, adding that the National Park had previously raised concerns about similar cases.

Eno denied recruiting the 17 arrested miners to work illegally inside the park. He said he had hired 40 miners and 10 supervisors after securing the required approvals and community consent, insisting that he was unaware the licensed area extended into a restricted zone. The dispute now puts renewed focus on the accuracy of mining boundaries and the need for authorities to resolve overlaps before licences are approved or mining begins.