By Wole Mosadomi
Residents of Shakira and Angwan Kawo communities in Rafi local government area of Niger State were predominantly farmers in the past years.
Just like Nigeria abandoned agriculture for oil, the people of the two communities also abandoned farming for illegal mining.
Some of them went into the crushing and grinding of the rocks and washing them in the river which was virtually the only source of drinking water in the area, not knowing the dangers inherent.
A bag of 50kg of the stones sold for N800 while a ground bag went for N1,500 and there were ready buyers.
This illegal mining had been going on in the area for long with rapid turnover and the residents involved smiling to the banks.
However, there was change in the business starting from last September when residents of the two communities, especially those involved in the illegal mining, started dying.
The trend was not initially taken seriously and, typical of a rural set up, the elders consulted the oracle to find out the mysterious deaths.
Herbalists, it was gathered, linked the deaths to evil spirits ravaging the area following which they appealed to the gods but without positive results.
The death of humans gradually shifted to their domestic animals which also began to die at an alarming rate. It was at this juncture that they beamed their searchlight elsewhere in order to know the root cause and remedy.
Health officials within the council were consulted and, discovering that it was beyond their scope, the state Ministry of Health was consulted while the state also made a case to the Federal Ministry of Health.
Two weeks ago, Minister of State for Health, Fiddles Nwankwo, announced the death of 28 persons as a result of lead poisoning.
According to him, 65 cases were reported out of which 28 persons were mostly children below the age of five, while hundreds of domestic animals were killed by the lethal substance.
SOURCE OF WATER: Like many rural set up in the country, the two communities depend solely on one source of drinking water for themselves. their animals and even irrigation farming.
As the rocks are crushed and ground, they head to the river, which is the only source of drinking water, to wash the stones. Unknown to them, what they had been consuming was poison which led to gradual death.
‘I LOST MY SIX CHILDREN TO LEAD POISONING’
Ibrahim Galadima is a farmer in one of the communities. Narrating his plight, Galadima, who was close to tears, said he lost six children to the poison in quick succession.
‘Four of my children fell sick at the same time and died one after the other. We never knew the death were as a result of the contaminated water resulting from the lead poisoning. They eventually gave up the ghost. Two others also died shortly after the four had died,”he told Sunday Vanguard.
Another farmer, simply called Ibrahim, said he also lost his eight-month-old baby to the poison while two others – two and five years respectively – had been taken to Zamfara for treatment.
“Our belief was that witchcraft had taken over our community especially when our children were dying. We also went spiritual but it did not work. Later, our domestic animals also started dying and it was at this state that we knew something extra ordinary was happening. We are ready to go back to our farming and dump this illegal mining to stop the deaths”, he stated.
Speaking in an interview with our correspondent, the Chairman of Rafi local government area, Alhaji Shabudeen Kusherki, said the council, through the directive from the state government, had closed down the mining sites. He said they embarked on the sensitization of the people that what happened in the communities was not witchcraft but poison from the illegal mining. He disclosed that the children affected by the lead poisoning had been transferred to Ankar, Zamfara State where they were receiving treatment.
“We are grateful that most of the farmlands are not affected. Only land very close to the mining spot is affected and what experts have advised is that we should remove the outer surface of the soil where affected and refill them with unaffected soil for farming to commence which we have started doing,”he stated.
“I must tell you that most of the people in these communities are predominantly farmers who produced 80% of the yams consumed in the state, but when they now saw mining as an alternative, they abandoned their farms for the illegal trade. Nnow that they have seen the danger inherent, they are ready to go back to their farms immediately. The council has also decided to assist them with seedlings and farming tools in order to attract them back into farming immediately.”
CONFLICTING STORIES ON EVACUATION
Niger State Director of Public Health, Dr. Muhammed Usman, disclosed that the state government had set up a committee to tackle the issue of lead poison.
He said no fewer than 1,500 residents of the affected communities had been evacuated.
However, Senator David Umaru representing Niger East, where the sad incidence occurred, called for the immediate evacuation of the villagers.
The senator, who was in the area on a sympathy visit on Monday, said at the time of the visit, nobody had been evacuated.
“I was made to believe that about 250 people have been evacuated but from what I have seen, nobody has been evacuated. Something needs to be done urgently so that we can check their blood samples to determine the level of contamination with the lead poison because this is very important”, he said.
“My assessment is that there are still some grounds to cover. A lot of efforts have been done but I think it is not enough. I am made to understand that some people have come from Abuja but we need to go a step forward by sensitizing the villagers on the dangers in washing mined stones in the river because if this is not done, it will be very difficult to control the spread of the poison.”
Umaru took time out to address the youths engaged in the illegality to desist.
WHY ZAMFARA FOR TREATMENT
Ordinarily, victims of the lead poison were supposed to be treated in Niger State but they were instead taken to Zamfara. Investigation revealed that Niger doesn’t have the medication and personnel to treat the survivors. It was gathered that it would take not less than one month to train medical experts to deal with the victims following which they had to be taken to Zamfara where they are said to be recuperating.
For now, success has been made in halting the illegal mining but what needs to be done for now is the immediate evacuation of the communities affected in order to stop the spread of the poison and consequently the death toll.
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