By Edu Abade
A coalition of civil society groups comprising the Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN), Citizens Free Service Forum (CFSF) and the Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), has asked the Federal Government to deploy monitors and inspectors to host communities in Nasarawa and other states of the federation where Lithium and other solid minerals are being mined in the country.
The groups stated this in a media briefing to sensitize the Federal Government on the need to protect host communities where Lithium, Lead, Gold and other solid minerals are being mined in the country including Nasarawa, Kogi, Cross River, Edo and Kwara states.
Speaking at the briefing, Executive Director of EDEN, Barrister Chima Williams, stressed the need for Nigeria’s Mining Act to create a crimes and punishment section that could be enforced either by the host communities or the Ministry of Mines and Solid Minerals.
He insisted that what has been happening in Uke, Awe, Abuni and other communities in Nasarawa State and other host communities in the country “fit perfectly into sanctionable acts because the environment, livelihoods and lives of the people are being systematically destroyed right under the nose of the state government.”
He further explained that findings from investigation and amateur videos from mining host communities in Nasarawa State showed that violations of the environment are going on unchecked and the local people have been rendered totally helpless because they want to remain law-abiding citizens.
“Sometime in 2024, we had advocated for the establishment of mining monitors comprising representatives of the host communities, ministry of mining and civil defense, among others to monitor the mining sites and routes, arrest any illegal miners and hand them over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.
“Mining inspectors should also be major component of this initiative, who shall without notice visit any mining sites to know whwther or not the operators are operating within accepted standards, including the use of personal protective gears
“We want the process expedited to ensure that incidents like what have been happening in Nasarawa State are nipped in the bud and not allowed to happen anywhere else in the country,” he stated.
Also speaking, Executive Director of CFSF, Comrade Sani Baba, said findings in the mining communities in Nasarawa State are disheartening and confirm the long held belief that in the quest for extraction of solid minerals government at the state and Federal levels continue to ignore threats to the environment, while extractive firms ruin lands, create insecurity and rob host communities of their natural resources.
“We are determined to work with our partners to ensure that justice is done in Nasarawa State. The lives of every Nigerian matters and we refuse to accept the disdain that mining firms, especially those from China have foisted on our people and the environment.
“We are particularly worried about the pollution of water and deaths of locals in Awe Local Government Area. The situation must not be allowed to deteriorate further and we cannot sacrifice the lives of our people and particularly those of our children for the greed and profit of the mining firms,” he stated.
Baba, therefore, urged the Nasarawa State Government to act on the demands for a speedy investigation of the situation, sanction erring firms and urgently remediate the environment.
In his intervention, Executive Director of RDI, Philip Jakpor, expressed concern that what is happening in Nasarawa in terms of the impacts on communities could only be described as “a ticking time bomb.”
He charged the Nasarawa State government and the House of Assembly to embark on a fact-finding visit to the affected communities with a view to compelling the Multiverse Mining Company to take full responsibility for the cleanup and remediation of the Awe, Uke, Abuni and other communities environment if found culpable in breaching the country’s extant mining and extraction laws.
