Six persons out of the estimated 50 persons trapped inside the rubble of a collapsed mining pit in Niger State have been rescued, Gidipoint on Wednesday gathered.
The incident occurred on Sunday during a downpour in Galkogo community, Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State at the mining pit said to belong to the African Minerals and Logistics Limited.
One of the trapped miners was said to have died, six others sustained various degrees of injury while six others, however, escaped unhurt.
We reported that the site manager, Ibrahim Ishaku, was said to be among the trapped victims while a middle-aged man who was also Chief Security Officer to the mining company whose name was given as Kuta died while trying to rescue some of the victims.
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The spokesman for the Niger State Police, Wasiu Abiodun, had stated on Sunday said that lack of equipment and the heavy rumbles hindered the rescue operations and not insecurity.
Rescue operation has been delayed due to lack of equipment from the site and the heavy rumbles from the rock. However, more equipment has been brought to aid the rescue operation,” he had said.
Although PUNCH Metro learnt that the trapped miners had not been rescued, Abiodun on Wednesday said there were 20 trapped miners and that six had been rescued leaving only 14 of them trapped.
The Commissioner of Police visited the mining site, along with the Commissioner of Homeland Security, Bello Mohammed and Commissioner of Mineral Resources, Garba Yahaya.
“They arrived at the scene at about 1200hrs and the engineer in the site confirmed that 20 persons were trapped under the rock but six persons were rescued out of the 20 persons. Fourteen persons are still trapped under the rock. Effort is still ongoing by the site engineers and the rescue team to rescue the rest of the victims.
The District Head, Mallam Aliyu Umar, was also present where he also confirmed the number of persons trapped. He appreciated the CP, Area Commander Shiroro and the DPO Shiroro for their bravery since the incident.
The Commissioner of Mineral Resources, Yahaya, told the district head and the villagers that they came on behalf of the government and that the government is not happy about the incident. The team condoled with the people of the community.
“The CP also reminded them that mining activities had been banned by the government in the state, but the people still go about the activities. He warned the community to desist from such an act,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Niger State Ministry of Mineral Resources has released the names of 14 persons said to be trapped in the collapsed mining pit.
The Information Officer of the ministry, Maureen Dibie, released the list on Wednesday in a statement in which she said the ministry’s Commissioner Garba Yahaya highlighted the lack of compliance and synergy between the mining company’s Management Director and the district head
Maureen said that as at the time of the release, 14 individuals were still trapped and gave their names as; Abdullahi Yahaya, Ibrahim Mansi, Abubakar Isah, Friday Musa, Godwin Hussaini and Benjamin Ashafa.
Others are Zayyanu Ibrahim, Abdul Ali Hamza Musa, Umar Abubakar, Joseph Madaki, Ibrahim I. Ishiaku Kuta, Abbas Musa and Yakubu Mamman.
The ministry had made it clear to Niger residents that mining in the state was banned and therefore was illegal.
Punchng report.
