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From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki
Ebonyi State is blessed with many mineral resources. The state has limestone, zinc, lead, chalcopyrite, oxide and other natural resources in large quantities
These mineral resources are scattered across various communities in the state. The resources are extracted by various companies who get their licenses from the federal government.
The fact that many of these companies get their licenses from the federal government and not the state government has led to a lot of conflicts and challenges. Some of the companies don’t have licenses to operate and many of them don’t pay attention to the environment before, during and after their activities.
Many don’t have Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) certificate before embarking on mining exercise. They also do not follow international best practices in their operations leading to environmental degradation and loss of lives in different parts of the state.
Four years ago, the entire state was thrown into mourning when a Volkswagen golf car carrying the youth leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Comrade Ogochukwu Elem, and his two police escorts plunged into a deep mining pit located on Enyigba/FUNAI between Abakaliki and Ikwo Local Government Areas of the state. It took three days for the bodies of the deceased to be recovered from the over 25 years old uncovered pit.
The then governor of the state, David Umahi, an engineer, after their bodies were recovered, ordered immediate closure of the pit and all other open pits across the state. Elem was buried four days after the recovery of his body.
A Catholic cleric, Rev. Fr. Mathew Orie, while delivering a homily during the burial of the 35-year-old politician, appealed for the closure of the pit that claimed his life and the two policemen
“When you are driving along that FUNAI/Enyigba road, you should drive between 30 and 40km because we were very scared when we saw that deep mining pit that the vehicle plunged into which caused Ogochukwu’s death. We are pleading that something should be done about it so that another one will not occur there”, he said.
Sadly, more than five years after the incident, the large open pit remains unclosed. Other open pits located on that particular road have not been equally closed.
In Okposi Umuoghara, Ezza North Local Government Area of the state, a truck last year conveying quarry that was processed in Umuoghara stone crushing company fell into one of the deep open pits on the road. The driver and his assistant died instantly inside the pit.
Early last year, a motorcycle operator died inside that particular pit when his bike had brake failure and plunged into the pit. The same thing happened to a man who was riding a bicycle and the bicycle fell into the pit.
Illegal miners have continued to spring up across the state because of the inability of the federal ministry of solid minerals and mines to properly regulate the mining industry.
Mrs Jacintha Nworie, from Okposi Umuoghara, Ezza North Local Government Area of the state, lamented loss of lives in some parts of the state, including her area as a result of illegal and open mining.She said many people are drowned in the open pits during the rainy season and urged the miners to always reclaim the mining site to avoid such deaths.
She said: “Some of the mine sites in my own place, Okposi Umuoghara, Ezza North have claimed the lives of so many children as a result of open pit. Whenever it rains, a lot of water will store there and people will go there to swim and in the process get drowned.”
In Abakaliki, Ikwo, Izzi, Ezza South, Ebonyi, Ishielu and other local government areas of the state, the pits can be found in their large numbers uncovered with the miners operating without licenses. It is against this backdrop that the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in the state raided some of illegal mining sites in the state.
In one of the pits located in Ezza North, three suspects were arrested by the NSCDC personnel. They were handcuffed and taken to the headquarters of the security agency in Abakaliki, the capital of the state.
There were many residential buildings around the mining site when the security agency arrested the suspects. The site was sealed by the NSCDC after the suspects were arrested..
Nnadi said: “In this case is Udoka Obaji, 40 years old. He is from Ameka village in Ezza South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. He purportedly gave the land out to somebody at a lease of N10milion and the person has invested close to N40million. He later went out and sold it to another person illegally and causing problem.
“The person he sold it to doesn’t have license and authorization to operate as a miner. I want to use this opportunity to warn those who are into illegal mining, to stay clear from Ebonyi State because NCSDC has come out fully to deal with them and work with other sister agencies to nip it in the bud.
“These are the places where the state and federal government generate revenue. We will not allow people to keep taping these natural resources illegally.
“There is environmental hazard here, there are residential buildings everywhere here. These buildings are very close to this mining pits and we all understand the implication of this and the extant laws that prohibits such. Very soon, these suspects we arrested will appear in competent court of jurisdiction”.
Udoka Obaji and Azubuike Emmanuel, admitted that they don’t have their licenses for their mining site.
Obaji, who hails from Ameka, Ezza South local government area of the state, said: “There is no problem here, its only a man that is doing joint business with us that is causing problem. I told him to be serious because mining has season. So, I told him that I borrowed money from people to invest in this business and there is no way to clear the debts if there is no work here. This was why I called him on October and waited for him to come but he didn’t come. I started soaking the water before I started the mining proper. I don’t have mining license, we are doing it as joint business”
On his part, Azubuike Emmanuel said :”I am mining here together with Udoka Obaji through the community consent they gave to us. We started working here on the 5th day of May, 2023. We have been working here in good faith. Suddenly, Mr. Emmanuel, the one that reported us to NCSDC came to us and requested for partnership.
“Along the line, we gave him terms and conditions. After all said and done, he paid for excavator and commenced work in the raining season. He worked here some days and told me that he will start work fully here before November ending and I told my colleagues what he said.
“Later, somebody called me that work was ongoing here and I said it was not true. I came in and discovered that pumping of water was ongoing and I asked someone if he knows who was working here and he said it is Udoka Obaji and I asked why he was doing that without telling me since we were two in the business. I called Udoka Obaji and asked him if he was the one that was doing the work and he said yes, that the people he was indebted to were disturbing him.
“I don’t have mining license, I am still processing it. I am mining lead and zinc. We discussed with the families on the land we are mining these mineral resources that we will relocate the houses around the mining site for them before work commences here properly.”
