It has been more than three weeks since a mining pit collapsed in Galkogo village in Shiroro local government area of Niger state trapping more than 30 miners, yet families and friends of those trapped say they are still waiting to recover the bodies of those trapped.
Speaking on the issue, Suleiman Isah, whose brother is still trapped said “We are confused. I was crying when your call came in because my younger brother is among the victims. There is no day that I don’t go to that site. The recovery team has not been able to bring his body out.
“They said his left leg had already been cut off because of stones that fell on his head. Under his corpse, three other bodies have been sighted. But until they can remove my brother, they won’t be able to bring out the ones under him.
“I couldn’t go there today (Wednesday) because of the traumatic experience I had at the site yesterday, seeing how they were trying to drag out my brother from the pit. The three bodies that were so far recovered have been deposited at the mortuary of the IBB Specialist Hospital, Minna,” he narrated.
The police and other government agencies had claimed that 20 people were trapped and six had been rescued but families of the miners and locals insist that 50 individuals were trapped. They also said the six people were not rescued as claimed by government officials but managed to escape before the pit fully caved in.
Families of the victims were also critical of the lack of government’s involvement in the rescue efforts, saying the rescue efforts have been crude and ineffective.
“What they do is to remove stones and pass them on to one another until they take them out. It is the same way they are bringing out the dead bodies because excavators cannot stretch inside the ground to take out stones that fell on the victims. With this, when will they finish bringing out the victims?”
Wife of one of the trapped miners, Mallama Safiya Ibrahim, say she’s still holding out hope.
“I will be happy if my husband is brought out of the pit alive. I have been praying, and I am hopeful. Let the authorities bring them out so that we know our fate.
“But I believe the government is not doing enough to save the victims. We learnt that some people came from Abuja, and with support from our people, they are working to bring them out. We pray they succeed,” she said.
Ummi Musa, whose brother is among those trapped in the pit, said if the authorities had deployed appropriate instruments, the victims wouldn’t have stayed this long in the pit.
“This issue is very terrible. The company and the government did not do the right thing from the beginning. They said they were trying, but honestly speaking, they are just doing the little they are doing so that people will not see their fault. How can you excavate or try to rescue people in that kind of pit with bare hands or use labourers? That is impossible! Imagine how long it is going to take them. They are just trying to fool us,” she said.
The families also disputed claims that the federal government gave out money to families of the victims.
“We have not seen any money. We heard that on the social media and news platforms, but nothing has come to anybody.”
