No fewer than three persons have been confirmed dead while several others sustained injuries following the collapse of a mining pit in Enyim Agalegu community, Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
The tragic incident, which occurred at a site operated by First Patriots Limited, formerly Royal Salt, has brought fresh concerns over safety standards in mining operations across the state.
The National Chairman of Enyim Agalegu Edukwu Opeke Federated Union, Mr Oboke Chukwuma Collins, who confirmed the development on Sunday while speaking to journalists at the scene, said he received a distress call around 4 p.m. on Saturday alerting him that miners had been trapped under debris.
Collins said he immediately mobilised community members to commence rescue operations, adding that they laboured to clear the overburden covering the victims.
“We evacuated some overburden on top of about three lifeless bodies and rescued approximately four persons with varying degrees of injury,” he stated.
The community leader disclosed that residents had earlier petitioned both the mining company and the state Ministry of Solid Minerals, seeking permission to conduct controlled mining activities at the site after the firm allegedly concluded operations at the main pit.
He accused the company of refusing the community’s request, describing activities at the location as illegal.
“We formally engaged the company and even wrote to the Commissioner for Solid Minerals, but our requests were turned down. Consequently, the community leadership withdrew from further agitation,” Collins explained.
Lamenting the fatalities, he revealed that Saturday’s tragedy has raised the death toll at the site to five.
Speaking earlier at the scene, the state Commissioner for Solid Minerals Development, Hon. Chidi Onyi, expressed sadness over the incident and commiserated with families of the victims.
“It is neither our interest nor intention to lose any of our people under our supervision,” the commissioner stated.
Onyi attributed the persistent accidents in mining communities to illegal operations driven by greed, insisting that the government remained unaware that the company had abandoned the site.
“First Patriots owns this site. Neither the state nor federal government is aware of any abandonment. As far as we know, the site remains operational,” he added.
