A source at the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Abuja, who said the Federal Government was aware of the activities, said, “Mining activities have been on for a very long time at Ijero Ekiti. The ministry is aware and the miners are licensed to operate there. So the issue of illegal mining is ruled out.
“You may want to ask why they are still engaging in artisanal practices and not mechanised mining after all these years. The licences that they have are for small-scale miners and that is who they are.
“They are licensed and renew their licences as and when due. I can tell you of Ekiti Miners Association, which is into feldspar mining and Ekiti State Alliance Gemstone Miners Association, which mines Gemstone.
“Our Ekiti office is monitoring the site and the Federal Government is getting the due revenue from the activities there. However, it is high time activities at Ijero Ekiti were mechanised.
“This is part of what the ministry under the leadership of Alake is working on, attracting investors to mining to scale up investment in the sector and rake in more revenue from it. Mining is lucrative, investors should embrace it,” the ministry source said.
Coincidentally, the Minister of Solid Minerals is from Ikoro Ekiti, which is in the Ijero Local Government Area. The source stated that Alake would correct past inadequacies concerning mining in the local government.
When contacted on whether any environmental impact assessment was carried out in the community before mining licences were issued for mining in Ijero Ekiti, particularly considering its effects on the hospitals and other buildings, the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Segun Tomori, promised to revert but had yet to as at the time of compiling the report.
Experts in geology and medicine agree that the co-existence of the hospital with the mining site could be dangerous given the hazards that mining activities pose to the health facility’s environment, health workers, patients and relatives.
But as miners remain optimistic that mining activities would recommence soon at the site, their chairman, Dada, said the way forward was by moving away from manual mining and embracing large scale or industrial mining.
Alluding to the fact that complaints in some quarters were due to the nature of mining being done there, the miners’ boss said, “We are crude miners, we want the trend to change. We are encouraging people who want to invest or have an interest in mining that it is a lucrative business, that they can come in to invest in industrial mining.
“People are beginning to realise that putting money into mining is a good investment. Through the awareness that the present minister, Alake, is giving out to investors, people are now coming from different places to show interest.
“We are being approached by investors, this year alone, there are about 10 solid investors who have approached us, they said they would come for mechanised underground mining, it is then we can be relieved because of all these crude methods we are using are just wasting our time, money and efforts,” Dada said.
Govt must protect residents – Experts
However, experts insisted that the government must do more to protect residents, staff and patients of the health facility, which is the only general hospital in the local government area.
An Associate Professor of Geology at Federal University Oye Ekiti, Charles Oyelami, says that although mining was good and contributes positively to the economy, “it comes with its hazards.”
