Poison wipes out 163 in Zamfara
Dareta, one of the villages affected, is little more than a collection of mud huts some three and half hours by road and tracks from the state capital Gusau. An official from one international agency said it was vital to clean up family compounds thought to contain residual traces of lead before the rainy season caused further contamination. But the remote location and Muslim restrictions which allow only women into some of the compounds made the work difficult. Akpan said health officials had found children playing in water close to the mining sites when they visited.

