The Taraba state taskforce on Environmental Protection , public safety arrested More than 5,000 illegal miners. The agency also expressed worry that the current attempt to limit the burning of trees for charcoal is motivated by the fear of desert encroachment and other environmental deterioration. According to Arise News, the continuous fight against unlawful tree-cutting has caused a stir in Taraba State over the rising price of charcoal. Some homesteaders remarked that the crisis has made things more difficult, particularly given the rising price of fuel and petrol for household usage.
However, during a news conference in Abuja on Saturday, Taskforce Chairman General Jeremiah Faransa (Retd) stated among The majority of those detained were foreign nationals whose visas had expired. According to Faransa, the administration aims to curb the unlawful removal of economically valuable trees even if it is aware of the hardship. He claims that a cartel engages in unlawful tree burning, and the State suffers greatly as a result of the evil operations.
“You can’t try this in China,” he remarked. “You can’t try this in China. Once your visa is expired, you’re bundled back to your country. Those destroying economic trees like mango are not done by Tarabans but the agents. We don’t want what happened in the Niger Delta to happen to Taraba.”
“Cooking with charcoal is not a problem. But going commercial is a big offence. It’s not for cooking in Taraba State but for exportation. The law allows us to protect our lands. The previous governments didn’t do anything to protect our state. But for this administration, it’s not going to be business as usual.” He added
The majority of those detained were foreign nationals whose visas had expired. According to Faransa, the administration aims to curb the unlawful removal of economically valuable trees even if it is aware of the hardship. He claims that a cartel engages in unlawful tree burning, and the State suffers greatly as a result of the evil operations. He emphasised the need to regulate the loggers’ operations and stated that charcoal has emerged as an export from Taraba State.
According to Faransa, Taraba State has an obligation to prevent unlawful tree cutting on the property and advise individuals who do so to plant more trees in the future. He clarified that Taraba State’s existing practice of burning trees for charcoal serves mainly to enrich the cartel that sells the product outside the state.
“Charcoal is sold in Jalingo for N4,500 but resold at N12, 000 in Abuja. The cartel is the one benefitting”, Faransa emphasised.
He expressed hope that the State government is searching for creative ways to use methods other than charcoal to lessen the suffering of the populace. According to Faransa, the government is not entirely opposed to cooking with firewood, but rather to the dishonest destruction of valuable trees.
