SIX people have been rescued while 14 other miners are still being trapped, 48 hours after a mining pit collapsed in Galadima-Kogo, Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.
This newspaper could not independently establish if the six people rescued were alive or dead.
The permanent secretary, Niger State Ministry for Mineral Resources, Alhaji Yunusa Mohammed Nahauni, blamed the management of the mining company for the collapse.
During a visit to the site of the tragedy where one person was reported dead on Tuesday, the commissioner said the collapse was due to lack of compliance and synergy between the mining company’s management and the community.
He said the governor earlier directed the suspension of all mining activities in the state and ordered a crackdown on illegal miners due to increasing security concerns.
He said, “The governor, through the ministry, had issued letters to all the emirates, instructing them accordingly,” warning that failure to adhere to his order would result in penalties.
He also urged the site engineer to consistently follow mining principles and operational guidelines to prevent future incidents, emphasising that safety should always be prioritised.
The ministry gave the names of the 14 victims being trapped as Abdullahi Yahaya, Ibrahim Mansir, Abubakar Isah, Friday Musa and Godwin Hussaini.
Others are Benjamin Ashafa, Zayyanu Ibrahim, Abdul Ali, Hamza Musa, Umar Abubakar, Joseph Madaki, Ibrahim I. Ishiaku Kuta, Abbas Musa and Yakubu Mamman
While the State Emergency Management Agency had earlier said that 30 people were trapped, one person was killed and seven others rescued but severely injured, some locals said the number of miners trapped were more than the figures given by the authorities.
The police public relations officer, Niger State command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, in a statement, attributed the difficulty in rescuing the victims to lack of equipment.
