BY AKUDORO GLORIA
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, has urged collaboration between stakeholders in the solid minerals sector and the National Parks Service to curb incidents of mine collapse.
Alake made the call following reports on the collapse of a gold mining pit that claimed 22 lives, which occurred at Jamtari village in Gashaka Local Government Area of Taraba State. Jamtari borders Toungo Local Government Area in Adamawa State.
In a statement issued by the Minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Segun Tomori on Thursday, disclosed that the Ministry is currently monitoring the incident through the federal mines officers in Taraba and Adamawa States.
The Minister noted that technical reports from field inspection indicated that lack of professional skills in mines development by artisanal miners engaging in illegal mining were responsible for the pits collapse.
Alake advised perpetrators to stop risking their lives in search of minerals, and urged them to form mining co-operatives and approach the ministry to facilitate licenses and permits to operate legally.
He informed that mineral exploration in national parks is outlawed by the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act and extant regulations. This prohibition is in place to protect the virgin forests, plants, and wildlife preserved by the Federal Government.
The Minister who recalled that the Ministry and the management of the National Parks Service have earlier discussed the terms of collaboration to stop mining in the parks, called on the officers of the National Parks Service to report any case of mineral extraction to the nearest Federal Mines Officer for immediate action.
To forestall a recurrence, the minister called on local government authorities to pay more attention to illegal mining activities within their areas and work with the state offices of the ministry to align with the early warning systems put in place to combat the menace of illegal mining.
He said the Ministry is sponsoring radio programmes on the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria and the Voice of Nigeria to educate Nigerians on the dangers of illegal mining and the need to join co-operatives to benefit from the ministry’s training and empowerment programmes.
He noted that the programmes are translated to nine Nigerian languages to target artisanal miners who are mostly non-English speakers. He added that the ministry artisanal department is planning more engagement programmes to deepen the confidence between artisanal miners and the government.