Why many more children will die from Lead poisoning in Niger state

Niger state has what is perceived in many circles to be an illegal Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources, and consequently, its powers, reach and control are limited.

This situation is not peculiar to Niger state alone.

Although there is no law stopping a state from setting up a ministry, the purview of the state’s Ministry of Mines, is to a large extent, actively undermined by the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steels.

We’ll break it down thus;

The officials at the Federal level can’t come to terms with the fact that the officials at the State level are trying to replicate their duties.

However, the state ministry insists that the Federal Ministry cannot effectively do the job, as they have no presence of personnel to monitor the situation in mining host communities in Niger state, which are mostly rural and remote.

Ordinarily, the state Ministry of Mines and Mineral resources is in a better position to regulate mining activities, as they are on ground, however, due to the fact that mining is in the Federal exclusive list- they are essentially crippled by law.

Federal exclusive list and MIREMCO

The federal exclusive list means that only the central or federal government can legislate on the subjects in the lists.

The exclusive legislative list has 68 items for which the federal government can legislate on and by extension implement as against 30 items in the concurrent legislative list (for both state Houses of Assembly and the National Assembly to legislate on).

The state Mineral Resources and Environmental Management Committee (MIREMCO), which is by law, mandated to oversee and coordinate mining activities, is largely non-existent, in terms of structure.

The state MIREMCO is meant to train community heads, educate artisanal miners, vet licenses and monitor mining activities, but they are largely non-functioning in Niger state and other states of the federation, hence the high spate of illegal mining.

As a result of this impasse between the state ministry and the federal ministry as well as the absence of a functioning MIREMCO, many more people – children and adults – are expected to die from Lead poisoning in Niger state.

This pathetic situation is however, not peculiar to Niger, a state which occupies 10% of Nigeria’s land mass.

According to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Mines in Niger, Dr. Mahmud Muhammed, the state ministry is meant to compliment the activities of the federal ministry.

During a recent learning tour of mining host communities organised by Global Rights group, Muhammed revealed that the state ministry is to ensure implementation of the mining act, in the absence of a MIREMCO and the incapability of the federal ministry.

The Permanent Secretary would also reveal that most of the artisanal and illegal miners in the state are foreigners, who came to settle in the state, hence they may not really care about the plight of the residents of their areas of operation.

Sabon Shapa

mining pit

During a visit to a mining community, Sabon Shapa, to ascertain the state of things, it was discovered that mining activities, specifically gold mining and processing, were being carried out, with little regard for the safety of the residents.

Large mining pits were left lying around unattended to, which constitutes potential death traps for the children of the community and also the possibility of toxic materials being present in the rain water, which had settled in the open-pits.

While en route the community, we come across children of all ages, trekking long distances – some with firewood balanced on their heads, some heading to the streams, to the farms and some embarking on cattle grazing duties.

As we arrived the community, one noticeable structure is an isolated primary school, built with thatch and mud -which caters to over 150 pupils.

150 children were getting an education 200 metres away from a 13-feet open pit isolated by miners who care little for the effects and impact of the remnants of their hustle.

In the Sabon Shapa community school, there are neither tables nor chairs in the classrooms and the pupils are taught in their local dialect- even while learning the English Language.

Gold crushing in Sabon Shapa
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Children idled away -some conducting petty businesses, some in the employ of the miners while others played around in the gold crushing site in Sabon Shapa, Niger state.

None of the miners appeared to have protective gears on, as they hammered away, washed, sifted, rinsed -inhaling and exhaling the lead dust- making themselves potential cancer candidates, with the children being more prone to the disease.

Many of them will eventually suffer from different medical conditions, such as stillbirths, paralysis, deafness, and brain damage -after continuous inhalation of large amounts of lead dust.

In April 2013, the BBC reported that over 460 children had died as a result of lead poisoning from gold mining in Zamfara since 2009, and owing to recent statistics, it is apparent that the casualty figure has steadily increased every year since then.

According to the BBC, the rate at which lives have been lost in Nigeria to lead poisoning, is estimated to be the highest anywhere in the world.

In the crushing site, a few miles away from the Sabon Shapa community, gold processing was being carried out without any form of environmental consideration, safety kit and/or equipment.

Child labour was a prominent feature in the crushing site, with children between the ages of 10-15, seen partaking in the processing of gold.

Shikira village in Rafi LGA of Niger state
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The case of Sabon Shapa, is relative compared to that of Shikira village, in Rafi LGA of Niger state, where 28 children died in April 2015 after drinking water poisoned by lead.

The victims had lead levels 17 to 22 times higher than the limits established by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The access routes to Shikira Village in Rafi local government area of Niger state, is largely un-motorable -which essentially compounds the challenges facing the community.

Healthcare products, medical aid, and other basic amenities will at present, be unable to make it to Shikira and other remote, isolated villages.

When the Lead poisoning outbreak of 2015 took place, getting help took a long time to materialise, information also did take some time in getting out to civilization and the government.

Some members of the community also contribute to Shikira’s misfortune, as they allow foreign miners access into the village, to dig pits, crush Lead and operate at the detriment of the little ones who are more susceptible to poisoning.

The miners most often abandon open pits and crushing sheds in their wake, after they cash-in on the extracted gold.

Cattle, animals and all forms of living creatures – not human – are impossible to come across in Shikira village.

In spite of the deaths and potential deaths, mining activities are still ongoing in the community as at the time of our visit, and many more children remain endangered.

Intervention

Out of concern for the lives and health of the children, our team set up an emergency intervention meeting with the Deputy Governor of Niger state, Ahmed Musa Ibeto, to report the situation and to call the state government to action.

The deputy governor appeared to be very interested in the situation and evidently enthusiastic in helping out, particularly in Shikira community.

Ibeto promised to work with the permanent secretary to ensure that a functioning MIREMCO is constituted to regulate mining activities in the state, reduce the risk of Lead poisoning and ultimately save lives.

While his response represented a glimmer of hope, precedence in Nigeria, has shown that due to the bureaucracy of government, things don’t get done quickly.

Hopefully, this time around- the supposed era of ‘change’- things may actually change and the Niger state government will promptly set up the MIREMCO, and more Lead poisoning related deaths can be averted, in Shakira, and all of Niger state.

Hopefully, fast action taken by the state government, will prevent the untimely death of little children, who have only just begun living.

Update

The Nigerian Senate on June 1, directed the executive to begin the immediate remediation of Shikira and other communities affected by lead poison in Nigeria.

The directive was issued on Thursday, June 1 by the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, who consented to a motion moved by Senator David Umaru from Niger State at the Upper House of the National Assembly in Abuja.

The motion was supported by all the legislators, including Senator Shehu Sani of Kaduna State, who spoke on the damages caused by illegal miners on the people and their environment.

The Senate also asked the executive to release intervention funds for the affected communities to reduce the effects of lead poison in their environment.

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