Abandoned barite mines poisoning people in Nigerian communities

After working for about seven hours on his cassava farm throughout the dry season in February 2018, Nathaniel Ogina approached the stream that runs by his farm in Iyamitet, a group in Nigeria’s Cross River State. As he crouched on the streambank, the change within the water’s color startled him.

“I observed the unusual color of the water. It was orange as an alternative of the clear water we have been used to,” the 30-year-old recounted.

However thirst overcame his hesitation. He drank the water regardless of its odd look, solely to be disenchanted by an uncommon style and the sudden onset of abdomen ache. “The style was completely different, and I began feeling a sort of abdomen ache I had by no means skilled earlier than,” he recalled, his gaze solid downward.

Alarmed, Mr Ogina rushed to his native chief’s home to report his expertise. Though conscious of deserted barite mining websites close to his farm, he was shocked to study from the chief – who had attended a seminar on the consequences of mining – that the stream might have been contaminated by leachates from waste indiscriminately dumped by barite miners.

Later that day, Mr Ogina took some treatment, which relieved his signs. Nonetheless, days later, his two brothers skilled comparable pains, compelling them to take treatment as nicely. These incidents prompted Mr Ogina to cease his mom and 6 siblings from consuming water from the contaminated stream.

However his fear lingered.

“That have in 2018 upset me as a result of the stream wasn’t like that earlier than,” Mr Ogina lamented. “I’m not completely happy that barite mining actions have affected our water.”

Mr Ogina’s expertise is just not distinctive to him and his household.

Two hours’ drive from Iyamitet, within the Ibogo group, Esther Onete skilled the same ordeal in March 2024. On her first go to to her mom’s farm together with her two youngsters, her eldest son fetched water from a close-by stream and gave it to his youthful brother to drink. Shortly afterwards, Ms Onete observed unusual signs in her one-year-old.

“I began noticing weak point in my child,” the 26-year-old mom mentioned. Although they left the farm early, the scenario worsened later that evening.

“He developed diarrhoea, his temperature rose, and he couldn’t sleep,” Ms Onete defined. She rushed her child to a close-by hospital the following morning, the place nurses attributed the signs to poisoning from attainable contamination of the stream by the adjoining mine web site. After three days of therapy, her child recovered.

This incident grew to become a wake-up name.

“Since then, I haven’t taken them [my children] to the farm. I not drink from the stream close to the farm as a result of I nonetheless breastfeed the infant and don’t wish to take any dangers,” Ms Onete mentioned.

Extremely important within the oil and gasoline sector

The oil and gasoline business types the spine of Nigeria’s economic system. The business depends closely on barite, a mineral important for drilling operations. Barite prevents blowouts throughout drilling, however its extraction is wreaking havoc on farmlands, streams, and human well being in Nigeria. The mineral has been found in 9 Nigerian states: Adamawa, Benue, Cross River, Ebonyi, Gombe, Nasarawa, Plateau, Taraba, and Zamfara.

Nigeria possesses the fourth-largest deposit of barite on the planet, with estimated reserves exceeding 22 million tonnes. Regardless of its important significance to the oil and gasoline sector, native manufacturing stays inadequate, forcing the Nigerian authorities to spend $300 million (over N500 billion) yearly on barite imports, in accordance with Olamilekan Adegbite, the previous Minister of Mines and Metal Growth.

The Nigerian Oil and Gasoline Business Content material Growth Act of 2010 mandates that stakeholders prioritise native content material of their operations. But, the nation struggles to cut back its dependence on imports. To handle this, the federal government commissioned a barite processing plant in Cross River State in Could 2023, aiming to discourage importation and promote native manufacturing.

“Barite is without doubt one of the minerals that, if correctly developed, can save the nation important overseas alternate,” mentioned Stephen Alao, nationwide president of the Affiliation of Miners and Processors of Barite in Nigeria (AMAPOB). He famous that about 50 native barite mining firms and 35 processors are registered with the affiliation. “We’ve got sufficient deposits on this nation to maintain us and even export. That’s why we preserve interesting to the federal government for help.”

Cross River State, house to Mr Ogina and Ms Onete, is wealthy in barite deposits, with estimates starting from 8.6 million to 11 million tonnes. The area has attracted quite a few firms, which make use of open-cast strategies to extract the mineral.

“Open-cast mining is a floor method that extracts minerals from an open pit within the floor,” defined Godswill Eyong, a geologist on the College of Calabar.

Earlier than mining begins, the overburden – earth materials masking the barite vein – is eliminated to reveal the deposit. “Overburden refers back to the materials excavated to entry the mineral deposit,” Mr Eyong elaborated.

Ideally, after mining, firms are anticipated to reclaim the land by refilling the pits with the overburden. Nonetheless, solely one of many eight barite mining websites visited throughout three native authorities areas in Cross River State had been correctly reclaimed, in accordance with locals. The others have been deserted, leaving open pits and overburden to pose environmental and well being dangers to close by farming communities.

“In lots of instances, overburden incorporates mining tailings,” mentioned Mr Eyong, explaining that tailings are the supplies left after separating useful minerals from the uneconomic fraction of ore. “A few of these supplies include heavy metals. Rain washes them into streams, which can then be consumed unknowingly by native residents.”

The reporter noticed that deserted pits have crammed with rainwater, creating stagnant swimming pools containing heavy metallic residues. Locals in Iyamitet reported that throughout the dry season, the water in these pits seems to boil, and animals like pythons have been sighted within the neighborhood.

The deep pits additionally current bodily hazards. Farmers and hunters danger falling into these uncovered websites.

“They need to have lined the pits to forestall accidents,” mentioned Theophilus Ngbongha, a resident of Iyamitet. “To date, nobody has fallen in, however we pray it doesn’t occur.”

Christopher Adamu, a professor of environmental geosciences on the College of Calabar, mentioned these barite mine websites represent among the largest barite mines in Nigeria and but have been deserted with out “correct demobilisation, remediation, and restoration of the atmosphere,” which is right for stopping devastating environmental and well being impacts.

Rising well being danger

The speed at which firms abandon barite mining websites in Cross River State has attracted environmental geochemical research amongst native scientists. In 2015, researchers from the College of Calabar revealed a research in Science Direct that examined the heavy metallic contamination and well being danger evaluation related to deserted barite mines within the state. Findings confirmed contamination at these mining websites and that the common concentrations of Fe (iron), Hg (mercury), and Pb (lead) in stream water have been above the required commonplace.

To look at the extent of water high quality in Cross River State, this reporter collected 21 samples from three barite mines in Alese, Ibogo, and Iyamitet communities. The samples include seven floor water samples, six floor (0-15cm depth) soil samples, 5 cassava tubers, and three cassava leaves.

Samples have been subjected to plain digestion and geochemical evaluation and the most important parameters analysed embrace Ba (barium), Cd (cadmium), Cu (copper), Fe (iron), Hg (mercury), and Pb (lead) for all samples utilizing GBC XplorAA Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer instrument from Akwa Ibom State MST-RD Laboratory.

Outcomes of the water high quality present that the water is acidic with a pH of 5.3-5.7, regardless of that the samples have been taken throughout the wet season in September. The pH of the water samples is beneath the suitable vary of 6.5 – 8.5 set by each the World Well being Group (WHO) and the Nigeria Normal for Water High quality (NSDWQ) set by the Normal Organisation of Nigeria (SON).

“The findings reveal that floor water samples have been reasonably acidic and contaminated with cadmium (Cd), exceeding acceptable ranges. This means that the water is just not of fine high quality and never good for consuming,” Mr Adamu mentioned, including that the implication of the result’s “[the] potential well being dangers to inhabitants, together with kidney injury, osteoporosis, and most cancers.”

Acidic water consumption could cause gastrointestinal points reminiscent of abdomen issues. This can be a greater clarification to the rationale for the weird abdomen ache skilled by Mr Ogina and Ms Onete’s son.

“There’s a huge distinction”

Scientists argued that mining usually has the potential to have an effect on soils that locals rely upon for farming actions. In 2022, one other group of researchers carried out a research to evaluate the well being dangers of doubtless poisonous parts in soils inside barite mining areas. Findings confirmed that a lot of the samples “current excessive power most cancers dangers from dermal contact and ingestion for youngsters and adults.”

After analysing soil samples taken from deserted barite websites, this reporter discovered that each one the heavy metals have concentrations beneath their respective most commonplace values set by the Division of Petroleum Sources (DPR) of Nigeria (Ba 2,000mg/kg, Cd 0.8mg/kg, Cu 36mg/kg, Fe 5000mg/kg and Pb 85mg/kg). Mr Adamu defined that for the reason that samples have been taken throughout the wet season, frequent rainfall could have washed away substantial quantities of the heavy metals.

“The possible causes of low focus of heavy metals in soils near mine websites could also be leached away from the soil attributable to rainfall, irrigation, or groundwater circulate [and] presence of minerals that bind or immobilize heavy metals [for example, iron oxides and clay minerals],” he mentioned.

Influence on Agriculture

Locals like Mr Ogina are starting to note a decline in crop yields. He defined that when he adopted his father to the farm within the 90s, they normally bought a bumper harvest. He provides that his father has a giant yam barn and at each harvest, they organize not less than 200 rows within the barn. Every row incorporates the equal of 30 luggage of yam — and it’s counted as one, then throughout 200 rows, Mr Ogina mentioned. He mentioned issues have modified as his variety of rows has decreased.

“There’s a huge distinction 1734501507,” he mentioned. “I get 16 or generally 12 rows. That’s as a result of the yam will get rotten while you harvest it, and for this, it reduces the variety of luggage I get.”

This contaminated crop is slowly poisoning locals who eat it. A 2021 research by researchers from the College of Calabar, which examined the heavy metals focus in soils and crop crops inside the neighborhood of deserted barite mine websites, discovered that inhabitants in Iyamitet – Mr Ogina’s group – and the following group in Okurumutet are uncovered to heavy metallic contamination from the consumption of cassava tubers.

Laboratory investigation

To find out whether or not publicity to heavy metals has any influence on the folks, this reporter chosen two human samples – a male and a feminine from Iyamitet – for radiology and laboratory assessments which embrace full blood depend, kidney perform take a look at, liver perform take a look at, and urinalysis.

The radiology was finished on the Nigerian Navy Reference Hospital, Calabar, and outcomes for each human samples confirmed that their lungs have been clear as there was no progress of their lung cavity. Nonetheless, “the one important discovering of their radiography result’s that their hearts are enlarged because of hypertensive coronary heart illness,” defined Daniel Akpotuzor, a laboratory technician at St. Joseph Specialist Clinic and Most cancers Specialist Therapy Centre (SJSCCC) in Calabar, capital of Cross River State. Whereas it’s tough to satisfactorily and clinically argue the reason for this power situation as there are completely different causes, environmental components reminiscent of air air pollution, maybe from barite mining actions, could have contributed.

Alexius Ayami, a 67-year-old father of 9 and Iyamitet’s group chief, is without doubt one of the samples and the laboratory investigation confirmed that for his full blood depend, solely his Packed Cell Quantity (PCV) is barely low and never inside the usual vary. Additionally, outcomes from his kidney perform take a look at confirmed that his creatinine is elevated and above the traditional commonplace. Creatinine is a waste product from the digestion of protein in meals and the breakdown of muscle tissue, however wholesome kidneys assist to take away creatinine from the blood.

“One of many causes of elevated creatinine is heavy metals poisoning,” defined Mr Akpotuzor of the SJSCCC, the place the laboratory assessments have been performed.

“The kidney is answerable for filtration perform and detoxing. Any toxins that get into the physique, the kidney filters it out and makes an attempt to excrete it. So within the strategy of dealing with all of that stress, most occasions, the kidney will be broken,” Mr Akpotuzor mentioned. “So this creatinine result’s suggestive of the influence of heavy metallic poisoning on this particular person [Ayami].”

Additionally, Mr Ayami’s liver perform take a look at confirmed that his alkaline phosphatase – that’s enzymes discovered within the physique – is 121, which is excessive and above the usual of (22-92). Mr Akpotuzor defined that heavy metals typically settle in very important organs and type deposits within the kidney, liver, bone marrow, and mind. “This elevated alkaline phosphatase is a attainable suggestion of heavy metallic toxicity because of power publicity to toxins which are stressing the physique within the strategy of breaking the toxins,” Mr Akpotuzor defined.

Then again, the outcomes of Sarah Okon, the feminine human pattern, confirmed that each haemoglobin and packed cell quantity (PCV) are low. Mr Akpotuzor defined that “she is just not very wholesome” together with her PCV consequence, which is 32 per cent as towards the usual of 40-54 per cent; and that if the PCV drops to 30, she’s going to want a blood transfusion “to have the ability to cope.” He provides that even her neutrophil, which helps to spice up immunity and combat infections, is low as it’s at the moment at 29 per cent as towards the usual of over 50-70 per cent. Lymphocytes, which additionally assist to combat an infection, are normally on the decrease facet, mentioned Mr Akpotuzor, however they’re on the upper facet for Ms Okon.

Mr Akpotuzor additionally defined that her full blood depend is mildly suggestive of bone marrow suppression as a result of there’s a suppression in her crimson blood cells, and white blood cells are less than regular, which means the “white cell and crimson cell have been compromised.”

“[The result] is extra typical of what you see in lead poisoning and the inhalation of mud that comes from mining actions and they’re deposited within the bone marrow. They displace the house that’s to be occupied by cells which are to be producing blood and that’s the reason you could have bone marrow suppression,” Mr Akpotuzor defined. “This result’s suggestive of bone marrow suppression.”

Whereas her kidney seems regular, laboratory investigation confirmed a slight elevation in her liver enzymes. “The elevation is suggestive of a dangerous course of ongoing, so no matter is occurring to her is feasible it’s in an early stage,” Mr Akpotuzor mentioned.

But, Ms Okon mentioned she not solely eats crops that research discovered to include some degree of heavy metals, “I nonetheless drink from the stream and my [seven] youngsters additionally drink from the stream.”

On the entire, Mr Akpotuzor mentioned if each Mr Ayami and Ms Okon have steady publicity to the poisonous mining atmosphere, there might be extra derailment of their outcomes when they’re extra superior in age provided that well being issues compound as people advance in age.

“At this stage, they’re asymptomatic. If they’re in one other atmosphere, the parameters [will] return to regular. [And] Should you preserve them there, they’ll start to expertise the cumulative impact of the publicity that has triggered this degree of derailment [in their results]. Sooner or later sooner or later, they’ll see the implications of exposing themselves to the [toxic] atmosphere,” Mr Akpotuzor mentioned.

However it seems locals don’t have any different possibility.

“I’m nonetheless consuming from the stream. I took medicine the completely different occasions I had abdomen ache. [But] I feel I’m used to the water as I not take medicine. I imagine my system has tailored to it,” 48-year-old Mr Ngbongha, a father of 4, mentioned.

“It won’t kill you”

Regardless of researchers’ findings, Mr Alao, the nationwide president of the Affiliation of Miners and Processors of Barite in Nigeria (AMAPOB), insists that it’s the related minerals, reminiscent of lead, which are hazardous, not barite itself. He argues that, not like the mining of minerals reminiscent of gold, barite mining doesn’t pollute streams.

“Water air pollution doesn’t happen in barite mining [because] we don’t use chemical compounds to mine barite; we do extraction,” Mr Alao mentioned. “You possibly can even drink barite—it won’t kill you. It’s a medicinal product [and] will be taken as a formulation earlier than present process an inner x-ray.”

Whereas Mr Alao is right that barite is utilized in medical imaging and different industries, reminiscent of cosmetics, paper-making, rubber, plastics, and paints, its applicability in these contexts doesn’t negate the truth that it incorporates heavy metals.

One of many deserted barite websites in Alese belongs to Presco Log Nigeria Restricted. In keeping with James Egbo, the corporate’s founder, it was registered in 2014. Mr Egbo claimed his firm started mining barite on the web site one 12 months in the past, having obtained group consent for an undisclosed payment. Nonetheless, Mr Egbo mentioned monetary challenges pressured the corporate to pause operations, though the mission stays licensed for 5 years.

“It’s nonetheless on,” Mr Egbo defined. “I intend to return to the positioning to proceed mining.”

Mr Egbo additionally denied that his firm’s actions had contaminated native streams, claiming that environmental impacts are rigorously thought-about.

“Each time we have to drain water, we achieve this round 9 p.m., making certain the stream clears earlier than morning,” Mr Egbo mentioned. “We additionally make sure the drainage is just not close to any streams.”

Weak implementation

In keeping with Mr Alao, barite mining pits typically grow to be too deep and harmful for continued operations, main firms to desert them. He famous that in such instances, the Environmental Safety and Rehabilitation Programme (EPRP) mandates firms to reclaim the land by correctly refilling pits and planting bushes.

“[The companies] are presupposed to reclaim the land correctly,” Alao mentioned. “But when there are lots of deserted websites, it means the federal mines officers are usually not doing their jobs.”

Archibong Otu, chairman of the Cross River State department of the Mineral Sources and Environmental Administration Committee (MIREMCO), admitted that mining is inherently harmful. He defined that adherence to established environmental requirements is important however typically poorly enforced.

“Mining, by its nature, destroys the atmosphere. The regulation gives measures to mitigate these damages and shield water sources,” Mr Otu mentioned. “However compliance ranges haven’t been good.”

MIREMCO, established underneath the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act of 2007, is tasked with supervising mining actions and addressing unlawful mining nationwide. It operates as a collaboration between federal, state, and native governments. In Cross River State, MIREMCO attracts its membership from state ministries of agriculture, atmosphere, mineral assets, and lands, with the federal mines officer serving as secretary.

Nonetheless, Mr Otu highlighted that MIREMCO’s efforts are hampered by an absence of funding. Because the committee’s inauguration in March, it has obtained no monetary help.

“We’ve got not been funded with a single naira,” Mr Otu mentioned. “Regardless of this, we’re working and can proceed to do our greatest to rescue the state from destruction.”

Mr Otu attributed lots of the challenges within the sector to poor enforcement of the Minerals and Mining Act and federal management over the extractives business. He criticised the federal authorities for failing to decentralise mining laws, leaving state governments powerless to handle the environmental and social impacts of mining.

“The state is nearer to the folks, however the federal authorities insists mining is on the unique record,” he mentioned. He defined that when Cross River State tried to control mining actions, firms took authorized motion, citing the Mining Act.

“Some traders have taken the state to courtroom and gained judgments primarily based on the blind spots within the Mining Act,” Mr Otu mentioned.

“There may be an pressing have to reclaim deserted mining websites,” he added. “Some pits, deserted for over 20 years, are so deep that anybody who falls in is unlikely to outlive. Reclamation should be funded, both by a devoted fund or by holding the federal authorities accountable for gathering royalties from mining firms.”

“I don’t wish to die younger”

Barite mining in Iyamitet started in 1995 on a small scale. Nonetheless, in accordance with Alexius Ayami, a 67-year-old group chief, the arrival of firms with excavators within the 2000s intensified operations. The barite was transported by vans to oil-rich Port Harcourt.

Mr Ayami mentioned the group has no precise report of what number of firms have mined in Iyamitet. Nonetheless, he listed 16 firms that mined and deserted websites and three nonetheless in operation. A search of CAC data revealed no matches for many of those firms.

Mr Ayami defined that earlier than the group offers consent to an organization, the corporate pays a payment of N2.5 million, and the group offers one-year probation, which entails the corporate prospecting on the positioning to determine the deposit of the mineral. As quickly as the corporate confirms this, the group invitations the corporate and fingers over a Group Growth Settlement (CDA), a doc that can specify what the corporate will do for the group, which frequently contains awarding scholarships to group members and constructing roads and medical therapy centres.

However fairly than present all this, most of those firms left a legacy of air pollution, contaminating the streams locals rely upon for consuming and cooking. Near among the deserted barite websites, this reporter discovered makeshift safety homes, which Mr Ayami mentioned have been erected by among the firms.

“The one method you possibly can know they’ve polluted the stream is the change in color of the water,” Mr Ayami mentioned. “Should you drink from it, you may not discover any change. However most of us who know the impact don’t drink. The enjoyment I’ve is that we’ve got by no means had a casualty.”

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In the meantime, these firms employed among the locals to mine barite. Within the Alese group, for instance, Oscar Asari mentioned that Omar Worldwide Restricted first got here to the group in 1998 and entered into an settlement with the group. Like Iyamitet, Mr Asari mentioned the corporate paid the Alese group consent payment. As soon as that was accomplished, he mentioned the corporate introduced in staff and in addition employed staff from the group.

Mr Asari was one of many miners. Then, the extraction was finished by these miners, and every miner had his pit the place he extracted the mineral. With a chisel, digger, and hammer, Mr Asari mentioned every miner can dig and extract 5 tonnes. A tonne was N1,000 within the 90s however now N10,000, which the corporate pays. The corporate then brings in its truck, masses it with about 30 tonnes, after which heads to Port Harcourt, Mr Asari mentioned.

Along with the bodily harm barite could cause because the stone is sharp, Mr Asari mentioned they’ve additionally observed the standard of the water they fetch from the stream has decreased.

“Now, water is flowing nicely, so you’ll not discover,” Mr Asari informed this reporter in September simply after the heavy rain that fell for about 40 minutes stopped. “[But] any barite web site the place its water flows into the stream, the water is normally completely different. I’ve observed it. Should you drink the water, it can appear as if they put alum and one might get pores and skin rashes.”

Someday in 2001 for instance, Mr Asari mentioned one in every of his son’s mates bathed with the water from one of many deserted mine pits and began experiencing pores and skin rashes. “I do know the factor is toxic. [That is why] I normally beat youngsters to not go near that place,” he mentioned, pointing to an deserted barite mine pit.

Mr Asari mentioned about three firms have mined and deserted in Alese, the place Mr Egbo’s firm has a mine pit.

This reporter couldn’t assess the depth of the deserted barite mine pits as a result of it was the wet season and so they have been crammed with water.

Again in Iyamitet, Mr Ogina has stopped taking water from the stream close to his farmland. So, whereas going to the farm, he fetches water from one other stream that’s not linked to the mining websites. However he hopes the federal authorities will regulate mining exercise in order that locals’ lives gained’t be in danger.

“I don’t wish to die younger,” Mr Ogina mentioned, leaning ahead to make his level. “I plead with the federal government to do one thing urgently.”

This investigation was accomplished with the help of the Tiger Eye Basis