2 Weeks After, Niger Miners Still Trapped

Families of the 30 workers trapped in a mining pit in Galkogo in Shiroro local government area of Niger State are still on the edge as none of them has been rescued.

Consequently, the families of the victims have resorted to conducting burial prayers for them. The pit collapsed on June 6, 2024.

Some members of the victims’ families told LEADERSHIP Friday that they assumed that they were dead and decided to organise a special prayer for them.

Mohammed Ibrahim said that his brother was one of the victims trapped.

“We decided to hold a burial prayer for him in line with Islamic rites,” Ibrahim said.

He said even though over 40 people were mobilised to help the community evacuate the debris of the stones from the pit, they could not make headway.

Another family member of one of the victims, Aliyu Nuhu, said, “We have done everything possible to at least evacuate their bodies, but to no avail; we just decided to perform the burial rites.”

He berated the mining company for neglecting the safety of its workers, saying, “It is obvious that the mining company did not consider the safety of the workers before allowing them to enter the pit.”

The public relations officer of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Hussaini Ibrahim, confirmed that nobody had been rescued since the incident occurred.

He said that efforts are still on to evacuate the bodies or rescue them, even as he confirmed that some relatives of the victims have decided to perform burial rites for the victims.