Senate probes death of 30 miners in Niger State rockslide

By Haruna Salami

Senate has mandated its Committee on Solid Minerals to investigate the cause of rockslide that buried alive 30 informal miners in a gold mining site in Farin Doki community, Shiroro Local Government of Niger state.

This followed adoption of a motion on “urgent need to address incident of the rockslide that buried alive over 30 informal miners in a gold mining site in Farin Doki Community, Shiroro Local Government, Niger State” at plenary on Thursday in Abuja on

The motion was sponsored by Sen. Mohammed Sani (Niger East).

Sani said on June 3, a catastrophic rockslide occurred at the open pit gold mine, resulting in 30 local informal miners buried alive in the Farin Doki Community, near Erena in Shiroro Local Government in Niger East senatorial district.

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He said the miners, in their quests for gold and lithium minerals, met their untimely death, as the avalanche caved in, burying them under tons of rubbles.

He said the unfortunate and tragic incident underscored the urgent need for comprehensive and holistic action to be taken to frontally address the dangers faced and posed by local mining activities taking place across the country.

Sani said, it was imperative to secure the mining sites to forestall future occurrence and avoid further loss of life.

” This will go a long way to ensure that mining activities are conducted safely and legally to prevent future tragedies and improve the overall well- being of miners across the country.”

He expressed worry that bodies of the deceased, were yet to be recovered for proper and dignified burial by their respective families.

According to him, conscious efforts should be made by relevant agencies of government for the recovery of the bodies of the deceased for burial.

He said given that Nigeria was desirous of diversifying its economy, adding that the mining sub-sector was lucrative enough, and should be adequately exploited for the socio-economic development of the country.

“As such, the appropriate authorities should as a matter of urgency and necessity, initiate thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident so as to identify any existing lapses as they relate to safety regulations and enforcement in the sector.

“And as part of remedies to bring sanity to the system, strict regulations should be introduced in order to protect the lives of those who depend on this industry for their livelihood.

“It is also apt for the relevant Committees of the National Assembly to step up the oversight of mining activities taking place across the country, for the purpose of harnessing the benefits that abound in the mining sector.”

Senate, after it observed a minute silence in honour of the victims commended the Minister of Solid Mineral, Mr. Dele Alake for his swift and proactive response in monitoring the situation at the mining site.

Senate also urged the Federal Government to come out with strict safety measures and regulation on mining activities in Nigeria in line with International Best Practices.

It also called for deployment of adequate security apparatus to the mining communities to maintain vigilance around mining areas to prevent further incursions and intrusion by informal miners.

“Urge the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other relevant agencies of government to expedite actions on the recovery of the remains of the deceased in the catastrophe.

This, the Senate noted was to ensure that the bereaved families can have final closure on their loved ones.