Senate Seeks Statutory Compensation Scheme After Kogi Mine Collapse Kills 20

The Senate has called on the federal government to establish a statutory compensation scheme for mining workers following the deadly collapse of a coal mining pit in Kogi State that claimed 20 lives.

The resolution was adopted after a motion sponsored by Senator Isah Jibrin Echocho, who represents Kogi East, during Wednesday’s plenary.

Presenting the motion, Jibrin raised concerns over unsafe coal mining activities in Ankpa Local Government Area and other coal-bearing communities in Kogi State, warning that they pose increasing safety, environmental and humanitarian risks.

He explained that coal mining remains a major source of livelihood in Enjema, Okaba and Ikah communities in Ankpa LGA, as well as parts of Omala and Olamaboro LGAs, all located within the Ankpa coal block of the Anambra Basin.

According to the senator, the area’s geological composition—comprising laterite, loose sandstone, mudstone, clay, shale and unconsolidated sediments—makes mining sites highly vulnerable to subsidence, landslides and ground failure.

Jibrin recalled that a major landslide occurred on July 14 at Alufele in Enjema district, trapping artisanal and small-scale miners underground while several trucks reportedly sank into mining pits during loading operations.

He said the incident claimed the lives of 20 workers and left several others injured.

The lawmaker attributed the recurring accidents to unsafe mining practices, particularly the widespread use of the room-and-pillar mining method without adequate structural reinforcement.

He also lamented that many miners work without written employment contracts, health insurance, life insurance or occupational hazard coverage, leaving victims and their families without compensation when accidents occur.

Jibrin stressed that the continued occurrence of mine collapses threatens lives, degrades the environment and highlights the urgent need for stronger legislative and executive intervention to improve safety standards in the mining sector.

Following deliberations, the Senate urged the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, particularly its Department of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining, to conduct a nationwide audit of licensed miners and their operations to strengthen monitoring and regulatory compliance.

Lawmakers also called on the federal government to establish a statutory mining workers’ compensation scheme funded through mandatory contributions from licensed mining operators.

The proposed scheme would provide compensation for occupational injuries, permanent disabilities, occupational diseases and deaths resulting from mining activities.

The upper legislative chamber directed its Committee on Solid Minerals Development to prepare legislation establishing the compensation framework.

The Senate further urged the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), in collaboration with the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, to develop compulsory occupational accident insurance for all categories of miners, including artisanal and small-scale miners operating under recognised mining cooperatives or community mining arrangements.

In addition, lawmakers called for the creation of a Mine Rehabilitation and Victims Support Fund to provide emergency medical treatment, rehabilitation, compensation, educational support for children of deceased miners and livelihood assistance to affected families.

The Senate mandated its Committees on Solid Minerals Development, Environment, Labour, Employment and Productivity, and Health to interface with relevant ministries, departments and agencies and report back within six weeks with recommendations.

The chamber also observed a minute’s silence in honour of the victims of the July 14 landslide.

Seconding the motion, Senator Tahir Monguno (Borno North) described fatal mining accidents as a persistent challenge across Nigeria’s mining communities.

“The issue of mining collapse has become a recurring decimal with the attendant and concomitant effects of deaths, injuries and what have you to miners across the nook and crannies of the country in mining communities,” Monguno said.

He added that the lasting solution was to strengthen laws and regulations governing mining operations to ensure safer practices across the country.

“As it is now, I am in support of the motion, but I will advise my colleague, Senator Isah Jibrin Echocho, and other senators who have mining communities in their senatorial districts, to come up with robust laws and regulations and present them in the form of a bill, so that the Senate, being the legislative arm of government, will now pass them into law, rather than moving them as a motion, which is persuasive and doesn’t have coercive powers.”