No fewer than five persons were killed and several others hospitalised on Tuesday, January 16, following an explosion which rocked the Adeyi area of Bodija in the ancient city of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The reverberations threw the city into confusion and caused grievous damage.
It is reported that 77 people sustained varying degrees of injuries, while 58 houses were damaged in the incident.
The Bodija Estate Residents Association, Oyo State, said on Wednesday that about nine people were still missing.
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, said preliminary investigations by the security agencies revealed that “illegal miners occupying one of the houses in Bodija had stored explosive devices there which caused the blast”.
Illegal artisanal miners, both local and from all corners of the world, have been running zigzag across the length and breadth of Nigeria like loose cannons for generations.
The improper and unregulated extraction of minerals from nature often creates imbalances which adversely affect the environment.
The unregulated artisanal miners constitute a security risk to the environment and a danger to themselves, as they quite often get buried alive for failure to deploy safe techniques and tools.
The Ibadan case reveals yet another danger that artisanal miners portend.
It is sad that the security and regulatory agencies in Nigeria appear unable to check this unwholesome industry which is conducted with such impunity.
Word on the street is that this dark industry is controlled by cabals of very powerful Nigerians who have armed gangs at their beck and call.
So bad is the situation that Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, recently confirmed that he has been receiving life-threatening messages over his comment on banditry associated with illegal mining in Nigeria.
Alake said since he commented on the involvement of powerful and highly placed Nigerians in illegal mining at the National Assembly, he has been receiving life-threatening messages.
He, however, said the Federal Government was working in concert with all the critical stakeholders at the state, local government and host communities to bring to an end the activities of the illegal miners.
Alake said the involvement of the host communities became imperative because at the end of the day, whatever security strategy the committee comes up with will involve the host communities and the people on the ground who have efficient knowledge of the local terrain.
“One of the things that happen now even in the forest that is unknown to many people, is that the bandits who the highly placed Nigerians are sponsoring have access to funding and heavy arsenals.
“They even laid mines on the ground against our ground forces that were moving in the forest to dislodge them. That is why we require the military’s presence, involvement and engagement,” he said.
Despite the damage done by artisanal mining, much of the blame must be justly placed at the doorstep of the Federal Government.
Nature abhors vacuums and the illicit trade is so large and appealing because the Federal Government has created a vacuum by failing to put in place effective machinery for proper regulation and control of the industry.
This needs to be done quick-time to blot the hazards and embrace the gains that the mining industry offers in terms of jobs and revenues to the masses, as well as to government.
