Bauchi is in mourning following the reported death of four women at a mining site at Gudum Seyawa, an agrarian settlement in Bauchi State.
It was learnt that all four women were deep in a cave mining stones illegally when it collapsed on them.
A construction worker who didn’t want to be mentioned blamed the ministry of solid minerals for inadequate monitoring and punishment for illegal mining in the state.
“It has been said over and over again that mining without permission and supervision is dangerous. These things continue to happen because the authorities are sitting in their air conditioned offices instead of monitoring the activities of illegal miners.
Last year, it was in Rafin Tambari that people lost their lives, this year, it is Gudum Seyawa. We have not fully recovered from the blast in Oyo state that killed several people because of illegal mining. The federal and state ministries in charge of mines have to sit up and ensure that they arrest any illegal miner operating in the state, so nobody dies needlessly” he said.
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Another resident, Habila Zaki said that poor harvests and poverty pushed them to indulge in the illegal mining which caused their death.
His words: “I feel really bitter in my heart. I am thinking of what those women might have gone through before they died in that unfortunate incident. Those were unarguably the breadwinners of their various homes. Breaking stones is unthinkable, especially for a woman.
“They break stones all day and still go home to prepare meals for their families. We can all see why this happened. The yields from their farms were very poor which was why they were forced to do illegal mining to make ends meet. I hope that others will learn from this and not indulge in illegal things that can end their lives”.