Sand Miners at the bank of River Niger in Onitsha, Anambra State, have criticized the authorities of Onitsha South Local Government for tearing down their buildings and mining equipment allegedly under the orders of the state government.
In February, the Onitsha South LGA authorities demolished the miners’ installation, dredging equipment, and stopped their mining activities along Niger Street, Ose Ekwodu market, and other parts of the River Niger banks. They stated that the buildings and equipment were causing problems and ruining the appearance of Onitsha as a commercial city.
However, at a stakeholders meeting between the sand miners and National Inland Water Ways Authority, the sand miners, part of the Onitsha Sand Miners Association, expressed their deep dismay over the demolition exercise.
The President of the association, Chief Chris Mbaegbu, who talked to journalists after meeting with NIWA, claimed that during the demolition, more than 10 crafts and sand dredgers worth over N30 million each were destroyed and buildings worth billions of naira were pulled down and looted by the agents of the local government officials.
Mbaegbu stated that the demolition was carried out despite a court order stopping any person from interfering or carrying out any demolition, which he described as “contempt of court”, saying that the local government authorities ignored the order.
He mentioned, “To worsen the matter, the action of the local government officials has rendered more than 2,000 persons in the sand mining business unemployed, affecting their dependants in this tough economy”.
“Therefore, we appealed to the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, to intervene and allow us to resume our activities since the miners pay revenue to the state government, NIWA, and the federal ministry of mines.”
The NIWA Area Manager for Onitsha, Nicholas Suleiman, also spoke after the meeting, stating that he called the meeting of the stakeholders when he saw news spreading on social media that NIWA sold the land to some of the sand miners.
Suleiman maintained that the meeting was also held to refute the allegation of NIWA selling the River Niger banks to sand miners, adding that the fact remained that the miners are tenants to those who acquired the lands from the original land owners.
He mentioned, “It is not in dispute that some people who acquired the lands from Onitsha indigenes many years ago are landlords to the sand miners who may have rented individual portions of the lands from the various landlords and then applied to NIWA which has the control of 100 meters from the River for certification and if their application is granted by NIWA, they would commence mining operations and at the same time pay revenues to both NIWA and other statutory bodies.
“Over 75 per cent of all the revenues generated by NIWA from all business activities at the river banks in the country formed part of revenues being shared between the federal, state, and local governments in the country on a monthly basis as federal allocation.
“We asked the state governor to think about the large amount of money being lost by the miners, NIWA, the state, and federal governments due to closing down the sand mining business. We want them to reopen the business, especially because the river banks belong to NIWA.”
Also talking, two other members of the sand miners association, Chidi Ihem and Uche Okafor, mentioned that legal business activities of sand miners covered Nsugbe, Otuocha, and Atani areas. They said, “We have the NIWA permission to mine at the river bank, just like our counterparts in Delta, Kogi, Rivers, and other states with rivers.”
Ihem and Okafor revealed that the Onitsha South Local Government Area authorities might be angry because the sand miners refused to pay them extra money, in addition to what they already pay NIWA, the state government, and the federal ministry of mines.
They insisted that they never gave any interview to social media operators saying they bought the land from NIWA with a lot of money, as wrongly quoted by the social media.
In response to the situation, when reached for comment, the Secretary to Onitsha South Local Government Area, Paul Onuachalla, said, “NIWA went beyond its limits and misused its right of way by building parks, markets, and warehouses for rent and collecting revenues from traders, which is the responsibility of the state and local governments.”
Onuachalla, who denied ignoring a court order by carrying out the demolition, as claimed by the sand miners, said the exercise was already finished before the court order arrived.
He said, “The demolition followed the correct process. The local government warned tipper drivers not to overload their vehicles with sand, as sand often falls out and damages the roads, but the drivers insisted on overloading.”
