Residents of Jos, Plateau State, are sounding the alarm over the looming danger posed by rampant illegal mining activities in the area.
Obi Eze and his neighbor, Adewale Adiasun, who spoke to BusinessDay on Sunday highlighted the imminent peril these activities bring to their homes.
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Eze revealed that his nearly completed building is on the brink of collapse due to ongoing illegal mining nearby. According to him, despite raising concerns, the landowner, a lawyer, asserts his rights to exploit the land as he sees fit, dismissing his worries.
Eze’s attempts to seek intervention from relevant authorities have been met with bureaucratic hurdles, with the authorities only recently requesting a written complaint despite earlier reports.
Eze alleged that the miners threatened physical assault “on my person, when I attempted stopping them from digging the land close to my house”.
For Adiasun, he recounted how his construction efforts were thwarted by a collapsed septic tank, attributing the incident to adjacent illegal mining activities. He implores authorities to take decisive action to safeguard his property and others in the vicinity.
Investigations reveal that numerous houses have already succumbed to the destructive impact of illegal mining, claiming lives in tragic accidents. As the peril grows, urgent intervention is needed to protect the lives and properties of Jos residents.
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BusinessDay recall that despite successive government pledges to halt illegal mining activities on the Plateau, the situation continues to escalate, underscoring the persistent challenges in enforcing regulations and curtailing illicit operations.
