President Muhammad Buhari has associated the recent increase in kidnapping | ONN REPORTS

President Muhammad Buhari has associated the recent increase in kidnapping and banditry in some northern parts of Nigeria to illegal mining going on in some remote areas of the region.

President Buhari said this at the 56th Annual International Conference and Exhibition, organised by the Nigerian Mining and Geoscience Society in Ibadan.

The president said, intelligence gathering has revealed that bandits and other criminal elements, sourced funds for arms and ammunitions from illegal mining activities.

He has vowed to decisively deal with the illegal miners across the country, beginning with the recent ban of mining in Zamfara State.