Taraba Miners Plead with Governor to Lift Mining Ban

Some of the miners who were recently rendered jobless following the moratorium placed on mining activities in Taraba State by Governor Agbu Kefas, have sent Save Our Ship (SOS) messages to him.

They pleaded with the governor to lift the restriction and allow them to continue mining activity.

Calls contained in a communiqué distributed to journalists in the state on Saturday, specifically asked the governor to reverse Executive Orders Three and Five, to pave the way for mining activities to resume in the state.

This was observed to be part of the resolution reached at the end of a consultative meeting with mineral title holders and other stakeholders hosted by the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development in Jalingo, the state capital.

The miners, in a communiqué signed by Engineer Kutman Hosea, expressed that though the Ministry was not consulted before passing the Executive directives, they felt the directives were issued in good faith meant to address state instability.

According to the communiqué, the miners have promised to join hands and support the state government in fetching money from mining activities through paying prescribed fees.

“Mineral title holders are willing to partner with the state government for the advancement of operations in mining to bring succor to the communities and Nigeria at large.

“There is a pledge from mineral title holders that henceforth, companies will strictly sign and execute agreements on community development with their host communities,” the communique reads.

They also assured that they would execute their mining activities with much care to the environment and according to laid-down processes.

They called for state and federal government support and other incentives to indigenous miners, believing this would wipe out poverty in the communities where the minerals are located.

They pointed out that their members have suffered immeasurably as a result, most of them plunged into debts to financial institutions, since the mining activities were restricted by the state.