By Luka Biniyat
ABUJA—DEATH toll from lead poisoning as a result of illegal mining in the  Anka Local Government Area of Zamfara State is now 223.

The Emir of Anka, Alhaji Muhammadu Attahiru Ahmed, confirmed the figure, yesterday, when the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Alhaji Musa Sada, accompanied by the Zamfara State Governor, Alhaji Mahmud Shinkafi, paid him a sympathy visit.

The Emir, who expressed gratitude for the prompt response to the disaster, said poverty was behind the tragedy.

Noting that the quick intervention of the government led to drastic reduction in the number of the dead, the Emir implored government to check activities of the illegal miners and enforce all mining laws to check a recurrence.

He also called on the Federal Government to help establish special hospitals in the area to take care.

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development who  said his visit was at the instance of President Goodluck Jonathan, stressing that the President was worried about the development and had mandated him to chair a committee comprising health, environment, agriculture, water resources ministries to find a permanent solution to the problem.

Sada said the disaster was as a result of lead poisoning, adding that the gold mining in the area was accompanied with heavy lead and that the process of removing the gold was wrongly carried out.

He said that some of the gold bearing soil crushed in the homes of the victims for extraction had found their way into their drinking water, and that some of the children had ingested the dust through playing with the soil.

Cry for assistance

The minister noted that when government noticed the development, he cried out for assistance and the World Bank, UNICEF,US government, the Red Cross among others, and expressed gratitude that the response had yielded positive result.

He said the ministry was ready to fund the illegal miners if they organized themselves and followed due process, adding that N7 million was available for them to collect if they organized themselves and apply for a mining licence.

At Dereta village, about 15 kilometres from Anka, the convoy stopped to chat with the villagers and to condole some of the affected families.

The convoy was also received by mining geology experts from the US , health consultants from Germany , and a lot of environmental experts.

Some of the experts told the entourage that the situation is already under control.
At the village, the governor addressed the crowd, he told them that the state government also played vital roles in overcoming the problem.

He said that the Zamfara ministry of Health rushed to the affected communities to give them prompt attention.

According to him all miners must obey the rules, follow due process in mining as illegal mining will no longer be condoned.