TRAGEDY struck the family of Tabitha Manasseh Mohammed on a Friday in 2015 after the pit she was mining gold from caved in, and a heap of sand fell on her back. The incident damaged her spinal cord, leaving her unable to stand on her feet.
All efforts by hospitals in Minna, Abuja, Zaria and Sokoto, where she was taken for treatment, failed to help restore her. She is not the only victim of the tragedy; as the ripple effect affected her mother who collapsed and fainted upon hearing the news of what happened to her daughter. The elderly woman spent three days at the hospital before she was resuscitated, she eventually became incapacitated and has since been unable to stand and walk for nine years, like her daughter.
The ICIR saw Tabitha’s father struggling to walk with a stick. He has a challenge with one of his legs. Despite his predicament, he plays a significant role in the care of his disabled wife and daughter.
Dark Friday
Tabitha had left her two-month-old twins and two older children with her mother at home in Kampani community that fateful Friday, with the hope of going to mine some gold in neighbouring Pmapi community, in Bosso Local Government Area of Niger State. She engaged in this activity to support her family.
“I left the house with whitlow and was in great pain that morning, just to fend for my children,” she recounted. She entered a big pit with other miners but was unlucky as a heap of sand fell on her during a landslide.
She was taken to several hospitals, including traditional bone setters in different towns in Nigeria, without any success after the accident, she said.
“Since the hospitals could not treat my condition, I have since returned to my father’s house. My husband said he could not care for the four children and me. That’s why I have been in my parents’ house,” she said.
The woman always lies on a small bed in her room, where she keeps bowls of foodstuffs that she sells. The foodstuffs, including rice, beans, and onions, are not more than what her children can consume in a week.
“My first daughter is 20 years old now. My sister takes care of her, paying her school fees at the College of Education. Then the second one is with me. She attends Junior Secondary School in Suleja. My father and siblings pay his school fees. The twins, the last born, were two years old when I had the accident. They could not proceed with their education after their primary education.”
But for her siblings and father, life would have been worse for her, she said. While soliciting support from the public, she expressed hope that a miracle could make her stand again on her feet.
How miners flock Pmapi for gold
Unlicensed artisanal miners, including women and children of school age, mine gold in Pmapi daily. They come from different communities in the state and beyond. Some of them are violent and could attack the villagers, who also participate in the mining.
Mining pits dot the community. They cave in during the rainy season, injuring and killing miners. At least three people die from mining in the village yearly, in addition to several others who are injured during such incidents, according to several miners interviewed and Pmapi residents.
Resident said, the business witnesses a boom during the rainy season because there is more water to sieve the gold from sand, and the mineral could be more easily located during this period, according to miners who were interviewed.
Pmapi has been badly degraded, despite being very close to Minna, the state capital. Residents said the situation could deny the area of development. The community lacks most basic amenities, including electricity, hospitals, potable water and a good road. It could only boast of a primary school and a bridge currently under construction.
The community leader, Mohammadu Suleiman, gave an insight into the mining crisis in the village. He said, “Miners have destroyed my community, and we don’t get a dime from the miners. I don’t know if the government is aware of this. We have tried our best to stop the miners, but they often prove stubborn. If you go to your farms during the rainy season, in the process of mining, the miners will uproot our crops. If we talk, they will bring out machetes and other weapons to attack us. Because of this, many of our people have been afraid of them.
#SPECIALREPORT: Residents of a community in Niger State, Nigeria, are grappling with the devastating effects of illegal gold mining activities. The uncontrolled mining has led to significant environmental degradation, loss of livelihoods, and increased insecurity in the area.… pic.twitter.com/JEQASos8BJ
— The ICIR (@TheICIR) May 27, 2025
“If we have the means to talk to the government, we would have spoken. We have been crying. If there is any way the government can stop the miners, we will be happy. If you ask me who the miners are, I don’t know them, and I don’t know who sends them.”
He, however, said that youth and children in his community participate in the mining.
“My people are not known with mining but farming. Whenever I talk to my people who do this thing, they tell me it’s because of hardship. Even if you enrol some of them in school, they won’t stay but will prefer to mine,” he said.
‘Chinese mining firm gave out N2m to community’
Illegal mining has taken place in the village and its environs for several decades, according to residents. However, the practice became worse when the younger brother of the community leader, Suleiman, leased his land to a Chinese firm some years back.
The man, whom the village head and other residents concealed his identity despite several efforts by The ICIR to obtain his name and phone number, was said to have leased his land to the Chinese to mine gold. The company moved into the community in 2021 and quit after 18 months, leaving the land in ruins.
When the firm began mining in the village, The ICIR gathered that it promised to pay the community N2 million annually to support its development. The company operated for 18 months and only released N2 million to the community. It left heaps of sand and gravel, including scores of mining pits in the community. A building by the company for its staff in the village is now being occupied by many illegal artisanal miners.
Some of the pits, which are as deep as wells, cave in during the rainy season, when the business is at its peak. Miners get trapped in them because people keep going into the pits every year to look for gold. There are dozens of other pits dug by the local miners, which have been traps of death.
The village head confirmed that the Chinese firm gave the community N2 million after operating for 18 months. He said his village used the money to build slabs on the river linking them.
No record of Chinese firm at LGA – Chairperson
The ICIR contacted the chairman of the Bosso Local Government, Rakiya Bawa Bosso, who said that there was no record of the Chinese firm at the LGA.
“The coming of the Chinese was before we assumed office, and we didn’t find any MoU signed between the LGA and the Chinese, but they claim that the Federal Government knew about them.”
Similarly, the state Commissioner for Mineral Resources, Garba Yahaya Sabo, said that until he assumed office in 2023, the state did not have records of firms mining in the state.
“When this government came into office, there was nothing like revenue in the mineral sector. My permanent secretary was posted before me. When I came, we sat together with the directors in the ministry. I said we needed to think outside the box.
This ministry has potential for generating a lot of revenue. We brought the idea of profiling. This idea is that any company that is coming to operate in Niger State must come and profile and you pay some certain amount.
“The essence of the profiling is for security reasons. We have to know your location, number of staff. If possible, we must have details of your operations so that if there is anything, we’ll know who to hold responsible.”
He said the effort paid off, with the state now generating revenue from its mineral resources.
Community received N2m from Chinese out of ignorance – Commissioner
Reacting to the N2 million given to the Pmapi community by the Chinese, the commissioner said, “How much is N2 million? They were supposed to provide social amenities, construct roads, and provide water in that place. Because of a lack of knowledge in that place, the Chinese took advantage of that. This is the problem we have.
“We are enlightening people now. We tell them everywhere that they should not allow any company to start operating without notifying the government, no matter any amount the company gives them.
“You have a lot to lose there, without the government intervention. If we intervene, definitely the company must do the needful.”
He vowed that there would be punishment for people who sell or lease their land to mining firms that end up degrading the land or plundering the state’s wealth.
The ICIR reports that Pmapi is entitled to funds accruing from the Community Development Agreement (CDA) as spelt out in Section 116 (1) of the 2007 Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act (NMMA). This portion of the Act establishes the CDA between miners and their host communities.
However, this law only applies to a recognised entities like the Chinese firm. Since mining in Pmapi is largely informal and the artisanal miners are unlicensed, they may not be able to benefit from it.
The ICIR further reports that Niger State has the biggest landmass in Nigeria, covering 76,363 square kilometres. The State boasts of a commercial quantity of large minerals deposits like gold, talc, kaolin, Tantalite, granite, marble, copper and lead. Nigeria losses $9 billion annually to illegal mining, and Niger State contributes to this loss.
However, it has been overwhelmed by bandits who seek to milk its gold and other resources in recent years.
In 2016, former Governor Abubakar Sani Bello said he could not pay workers’ salaries because there was no money in his government’s coffers.
Shortly after assuming office in 2023, the incumbent Governor, Mohammed Umar Bago, borrowed one trillion naira to enable him to deliver infrastructural projects in the state.
He recently regretted taking the loan. Given the huge wealth plundered from the state by illegal miners, the state might have no reason to take such a loan if the government harnessed its resources.
The ICIR reported how a mining firm’s negligence sent youth to early graves in the state. Some communities are still inaccessible in the state because of the activities of miners who masquerade as terrorists. In 2021, The ICIR reported how the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) lost billions to illegal miners. There were also such reports in Osun, Benue and others.
‘Why we engage in illegal mining’
Several miners shared their views with The ICIR on why they do the business. They said poverty and hardship in the country are among the reasons they went into it.
The miners include nursing mothers, children and youth. They use crude tools such as axes, hoes, diggers and shovels, which make them expend much energy to achieve their aim. Besides, they conduct the business amid the fear of environmental officials who randomly arrest them.
Twenty three-year-old Fatima Abubakar left her children at home in Minna to mine in Pmapi. “I’ve been doing this for one year. The reason I do it is because I’m poor. My husband doesn’t have much. I do this to support my family,” she said.
She makes between N5,000 and N10,000 daily. She, however, said some miners make good money from the business.
She said, “I have witnessed three people die in this business,” she said, adding that, “It is always easier to mine during the rainy season because we have enough water to sieve the gold out of the sand.”
Khadijat Alkasim, 17, an SSS 1 student at the Maitunbi Secondary School, said she was into the business because her father had been ill. “I do it to support my parents, especially my father, who has been sick.”
Jemila Mohammed hails from Pmapi and has been doing business for over 20 years. A divorcee and mother of two, her only business is mining. She was recently down with malaria, and in the process of treating herself, she discovered that her legs and hands swelled.
“I just suddenly realised that my hands and legs got swollen. It started with the legs. The hands soon joined. It got worse to the point that people had to carry me to bathe and do other things for me. They used traditional medicines on the hands and legs before the swelling reduced.”
She could not identify the cause of her predicament, as she continued to walk with the support of a stick. She could no longer mine.
Blessing Mattew, a hair stylist, was also at Pmapi for mining. She said, “I mine gold, it is not my calling; and it is not my future. I’m a hair stylist. I finished secondary school and I’m a mother of four. Without this, at times, there will be no school for my children. Without this, there will also be no food for my children to eat. So, I do this to assist my husband.”
In a week, she could make up to N40,000, and sometimes, she doesn’t make money. She appealed to government to support the less privileged in society and do more to reduce suffering in the country.
Zephaniah Sunday hails from Shiroro LGA, which has faced much insecurity over mining. “Bandits are everywhere sending people away. To get food to eat is a problem. We are here to look for what to eat. We have children and wives. We don’t know what to give our children.”
He said he was not happy with the illegal mining, but fate forced him into it.
Deborah Ayodele is from the South-West. She is among the women who engage in mining. She makes about N30,000 weekly. She also said suffering brought her into mining when her business collapsed.
“I have a daughter in the university and I also have another son graduating this year,” she said, in her bid to justify why she was in the business.
Gold is a lucrative business – Buyer
Audu Adamu hails from Pmapi. He takes the gold to Minna to sell. According to him, there are many gold buyers in Minna, and the business is very lucrative.
Adamu showed The ICIR a small gold of about a tablespoon, which he said would sell for N25,000.
Expert reacts
Responding to The ICIR findings, the Executive Director of Global Rights, Abiodun Baiyewu, said Chinese confidently moved into communities with mineral resources in Nigeria, pretending they did not understand and could not communicate in English to avoid interacting with locals who could challenge them.
She said the Chinese are a menace, not just in Niger State. “If you go to the next door in Nasarawa, if you go to Zamfara, where I first ran into Chinese miners 14 years ago, you will see them.
“The Chinese miners gave a hand-drilling machine to artisanal miners so that they could produce the nuggets faster. Miners took it home. The nugget was already laced with lead. The ensuing tragedy led to almost 700 people in this country dying without us batting an eyelid. That remains a nightmare many years later. If you go to Osun State, you will find these Chinese miners.”
She said the Chinese come to Nigeria with visas to do other work but go into mining illegally, adding that the Chinese do not just mine solid minerals, but red woods. According to her, very little is done by the country to safeguard its mineral assets.
“People in communities do not know if miners are licensed. All they know is that miners will say they want to mine. A lot of the communities do not know what’s going on. Miners will say they want to buy or rent the community’s land. They’ll come in and destroy the entire place. Because the communities have been paid, the miners feel there is nothing the communities can do or say; and it goes on like that.”
Baiyewu challenged all tiers of government in the country to invest in mining and protect the nation’s mineral resources.
She called on ministries, including the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Water Resources, Environment, and their counterparts in states, to collaborate and ensure the nation enjoys its mineral resources.
She also appealed to the Nigerian government to have the political will to end illegal mining, even as she called for increased local investments in mining.
“Take for example, Niger State has one-tenth of Nigerian landmass. The state used to have four mining officers and one vehicle to cover the size of almost one-tenth of Nigeria. How is that possible?” she queried, stressing that 80 per cent of mining in Nigeria is by artisanal miners.
She also said when the Zamfara crisis happened, the state had just a mining officer, whom she said was not paid by the government for three months.
***inde
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2023. Contact him via email @ mfatunmole@icirnigeria.org