A civil society organization, Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA) has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to tackle illegal mining in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The Executive Director of the civil society organisation, Ms Faith Nwadishi made the call during a town hall meeting organised by the CTA.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was on the “Community Development Agreement (CDA) and validation of the report of the scoping study on the impact of mining on the Original Inhabitants (OI) of the FCT.
NAN also reports that the study was carried out by CTA with the support of Macarthur Foundation through the Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED).
In her remarks, Nwadishi decried that the damaging effects of mining especially quarrying by some companies had left communities devasted, means of livelihood destroyed, cultural sites desecrated, and the people dejected.
In her words, “This is why we call on the federal government to put measures in place to tackle the devastating effect of mining on the means of livelihood of the original inhabitants of the FCT.”
“We are here today to actualise yet another milestone in the history of this project on promoting the rights of the original inhabitants of the FCT.
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“This project was launched on Jan. 14. It has been a long journey especially in demanding the rights of the Original Inhabitants of the FCT and making certain requests.”
The executive director said that the scoping study would help the communities, mining companies and the government to further understand the challenges associated with mining and how the communities would benefit from the natural resources on their soil.
“From the respondents’ feedback, it showed that some of the important sites of the inhabitants have been destroyed by mining and infrastructural development activities such as in Kubwa district where their grave sites have been converted to an ultra-modern market now called Maitama market.”
She called on the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development to do more to assist communities in the FCT negotiate agreements with mining operators.
Also speaking, Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr Olamilekan Adegbite said that the community development agreement in the sector was to ensure that the mining communities were carried along by the mining operators.
Adegbite was represented by Dr Vivian Okono, Director Mines and Environmental Compliance Department.
He said that CDA was enshrined in the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act (NMMA), 2007 to make agreements between the Mineral Title Holders and the Mining Communities mandatory.
On his part, Esu Bwari, Dr Ibrahim Yaro said that aside from illegal mining, quarry activities were also a hazard to the people in the community.
The Esu who was represented by Bwari Youth Leader, John Awoyi also said that a lot of residents in the area were displaced by mining activities.
Yaro, however, appealed to CTA to add its scope of intervention on quarry activities which has affected the communities.