Concerned about the growing illegalities bedeviling the solid minerals sector, the Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), the Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN) and the Citizens Free Service Forum (CFSF) have demanded a review of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) Act to include monitoring of solid mineral operations.
The was the central theme in a meeting the groups had with the House of Representatives Committee Chair on Solid Minerals Development, Hon. Jonathan Gaza Gbefwi at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja.
The groups urged Hon. Gbefwi to wade into the extraction crisis in Uke district in Karu local government area and Abuni in Awe local government of Nasarawa State where the locals allege the ruination of their environment and sexual exploitation of young school –age girls.
In addressing the issues, they proposed an umbrella agency of government that would adequately monitor and respond to environmental violations caused by mining firms, similar to how NOSDRA tackles pollution in the oil and gas sector.
At the meeting, EDEN Deputy Executive Director, Comrade Alagoa Morris said that the proposal for amendment of the NOSDRA Act to incorporate solid minerals sector monitoring will tackle illegal mining, and at the same time empower local communities to be able to hold violators of their environment to account.
Comrade Alagoa stressed that community people where solid minerals are mined currently do not know who to report to or which agency of government can fight for them when there are infractions, even as he added that mining communities must learn from the lessons of the Niger Delta where 60 years of extraction has only brought pain, death and destruction.
In his intervention, RDI Executive Director, Philip Jakpor, said that the pockets of initiatives introduced by the federal government like the Mining Marshals and the Nigeria Mine Rangers Service Bill which has scaled Second Reading in the Senate were commendable but it would be better if they were under an agency that would address illegal mining in the country.
Jakpor expressed worry that the oil curse of the Niger Delta may have a counterpart in the north in form of solid minerals curse, except urgent action is taken to address the situation.
He revealed that the organisations proposing the amendment of the NOSDRA Act have been documenting the impacts of illegal mining across the country and particularly in Nasarawa State, where two local government areas – Karu and Awe – are now the epicenter of illegal mining activities in the north.
Echoing the need for urgent action to address the illegal mining menace in the north, Comrade Bomoi Mohammed Ibraheem, Deputy Executive Director of CFSF said that the amendment of the Act would resemble the subsuming of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) under the Ministry of the Niger Delta.
In his response to the findings, Hon. Gbefwi promised that he would ensure that the cases brought before his office by any of the three organisations are adequately investigated and sanctions imposed if violations of the environment and the rights of the people are established.
The lawmaker also disclosed that the House of Representatives will reach out to other relevant departments of government to identify the illegal mining companies as well as those that are not adhering to statutory environmental standards in their operations.
