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Plateau Community Protests Closure Of Mining Site, Threatens To Block Jos Road
Plateau Community Protests Closure Of Mining Site, Threatens To Block Jos Road
Residents of the Latya community in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State on Wednesday protested the closure of a mining site in their community by security operatives over a dispute involving a mining company operating there.
The protesters, comprising youths, women and other community members, accused the company of allegedly intimidating landowners, causing the arrest of residents and failing to honour agreements with families whose lands are being used for mining activities.
Addressing journalists during the protest, the community’s youth leader, James Gyang Samuel, said the closure of the mining site had deprived hundreds of residents, particularly widows, orphans and other vulnerable persons, of their means of livelihood for the past six months.
Samuel said, “The closure of this mining site has seriously affected our people. Many residents depend on mining activities to feed their families, pay school fees and meet other basic needs.
“Women, widows, orphans and other vulnerable members of the community have been the worst affected. We want the government to intervene so that our people can return to their means of livelihood.”
On the disputed mining licence, he said, “There are concerns within the community over the validity of the mining licence being used by the company. We are calling on the relevant authorities to investigate its authenticity and establish whether the necessary approvals were obtained to operate in this community.”
He also called for the withdrawal of security operatives from the site, insisting that the matter should be handled by the appropriate regulatory authorities.
“The security operatives should withdraw from the mining site. This is a mining dispute that should be addressed by the appropriate regulatory authorities, particularly the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC),” he said.
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Similarly, the community’s women’s leader, Mrs Justina Ezekiel Dem, alleged that the mining company had operated in the area for nearly 30 years but had recently become involved in disputes with landowners over their land and mining rights.
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Dem said, “The company has been operating in this community for almost 30 years, but recently, the situation changed.
“There have been disagreements with landowners, and some residents have been taken to court over issues concerning their land and mining rights.
“We are the people whose lands are being used for these activities, and we believe our rights and interests must be respected.”
She further claimed that checks at the Mining Cadastre Office raised questions about the company’s licence and whether it had obtained the necessary consent from affected landowners to operate at the disputed location.
Dem said, “Our checks at the Mining Cadastre Office raised concerns about the company’s authorisation to operate at the location and whether the necessary consent of affected landowners was obtained.
“We want the appropriate authorities to investigate this matter and establish the facts.”
Regarding the economic implications of the closure, she said many women who had obtained loans from cooperative societies to engage in mining were now struggling to repay their debts.
“Some of our women collected loans from cooperative societies to invest in mining activities. Since the closure of the site, they have been unable to work and are worried about how to repay those loans.
“We are appealing to the Plateau State Government to intervene, investigate the matter and ensure that our community benefits from the mineral resources found on our ancestral land,” she said.
The woman leader warned that the community might block roads connecting the area to Jos if the government failed to address their grievances by Friday, 13 November.
“We are giving the government until Friday, 13 November, to address our complaints. If nothing is done, we may be forced to block roads connecting our community to Jos to draw attention to our plight,” she warned.
The protesters maintained that their action was aimed at securing justice, protecting the community’s economic interests and ensuring that residents were not excluded from the benefits of mining activities on their ancestral land.
Efforts to obtain the reaction of the Plateau State Commissioner for Environment, Climate Change and Mineral Development, Hon. Dr Joshua Ubandoma Laven, were unsuccessful, as calls put across to him were not answered at the time of filing this report.
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