MORE than three weeks after a mining pit collapsed in Galkogo, Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, over 30 miners have remained trapped, victims’ families and residents said.
This newspaper recalls that labourers were working inside the 400-metre-deep pit owned by African Minerals and Logistics Limited when it caved in on June 3 after a heavy rain the previous day.
While government agencies, including the police, claimed that 20 people were trapped and six had been rescued, families and locals insisted that 50 individuals were trapped.
They said the six people were not rescued as claimed by government officials but managed to escape before the pit fully caved in.
This newspaper had reported that initial efforts to rescue the trapped victims, including the site manager, Alhaji Ishaku Ibrahim, stalled because of lack of appropriate equipment.
However, findings by our correspondent yesterday showed that the recovery effort has resumed but is being done manually.
Families of the victims expressed frustration over the slow progress and lack of government’s involvement in the rescue efforts.
Suleiman Isah, whose younger brother is among the trapped victims, criticised government’s response to the situation, saying, “We are confused. I was crying when your call came in because my younger brother is among the victims. There is no day that I don’t go to that site. The recovery team has not been able to bring his body out.
“They said his left leg had already been cut off because of stones that fell on his head. Under his corpse, three other bodies have been sighted. But until they can remove my brother, they won’t be able to bring out the ones under him.
Suleiman Isah, whose younger brother is among the trapped victims, criticised government’s response to the situation, saying, “We are confused. I was crying when your call came in because my younger brother is among the victims. There is no day that I don’t go to that site. The recovery team has not been able to bring his body out.
“They said his left leg had already been cut off because of stones that fell on his head. Under his corpse, three other bodies have been sighted. But until they can remove my brother, they won’t be able to bring out the ones under him.
“But I believe the government is not doing enough to save the victims. We learnt that some people came from Abuja, and with support from our people, they are working to bring them out. We pray they succeed,” she said.
Ummi Musa, whose brother is among those trapped in the pit, said if the authorities had deployed appropriate instruments, the victims wouldn’t have stayed this long in the pit.
“This issue is very terrible. The company and the government did not do the right thing from the beginning. They said they were trying, but honestly speaking, they are just doing the little they are doing so that people will not see their fault. How can you excavate or try to rescue people in that kind of pit with bare hands or use labourers? That is impossible! Imagine how long it is going to take them. They are just trying to fool us,” she said.
Sources told This newspaper that four mutilated bodies were recovered on Monday and Tuesday through manual operations.
The president of Lakpma Youth Forum, an association of youths in security- challenged axis of Shiroro Local Government Area, Babangida Zaharadeen Kudodo, corroborated this account to our correspondent.
“The government is truly silent on the incident. As I speak with you, they have started recovering dead bodies from the pit. Four bodies were recovered but they were mutilated – two bodies were brought out on Monday and another two on Tuesday.
“There is no hope that any of the victims would be brought out alive. Chemicals have to be seriously applied to enable the recovery operations because of the unpleasant odour oozing out of the pit; if not, no one can even stand close to the pit,” he said.
Kudodo said recovery operations were being done manually by labourers, adding, “Anybody who tells you that bodies were being recovered with the use of machines is not telling you the truth. Labourers are digging and removing the bodies. The fifth body was seen but the head had already disjointed from the body, so they could not put it out of the sand because it would dismantle.”
He said the association and stakeholders were working out modalities to take legal action against the company for negligence and exploitation.
The Niger State Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management confirmed ongoing recovery efforts but noted the difficulty due to the depth of the pit.
The ministry’s director of media and strategy, Habibu Abubakar Wushishi said, “The victims are still underground, but recovery effort is ongoing. The machines and professional rescuers are still there working.