ARRIVAL: President Goodluck Jonathan, (R) Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia (M) and Prof. Joy Ogwu, Nigerian Permanent Representative at the UN, after touching down at the JF Kennedy International Airport for the 2010 UN General Assembly.

By Gbenga Oke
Anka (Zamfara) —  A seven-man team from the UN Environment Programme, UNEP,  has arrived to investigate the extent of lead poisoning which has killed many people, mostly children, in Zamfara, since May.

The team, led by Mr. Mathew Conway, is to conduct field assessment and ascertain the level of soil and water contamination in four villages mostly ravaged by the poisoning.

They are Abare, Sunke, Kirsa and Bagega.

Conway said yesterday  in Anka, the emirate headquarters of the affected area, that the team was expected to complete its assignment on October 2.

He said the team could not begin work immediately due to the delayed arrival of its mobile laboratory equipment from the Netherlands.

He assured that the team’s mission was not to interfere in mining activities in the areas.

Minister of Mines and Steel, Alhaji Musa Mohammed Sada, also disclosed that 10 people had been confirmed dead in a fresh lead poisoning in Zamfara State just as he stated that mining activities had been suspended in the area until further notice.

Speaking with newsmen, Sada attributed the poisoning to the continued illegal mining that has been taking place in the affected areas, adding that the ban on mining in such areas would only be for two weeks after both sides might have signed an agreement on the exploration.

His words: “The only way we can curtail this poisoning is to suspend the activities of miners in the area and as ministry, we have gone further to look for possible flash points around the country and we are undertaking baseline survey of all the areas we believe are likely to have this sort of problem in future”.

He explained that lack of credible mining inspectorate infrastructure has been one of the major problems hampering proper inspection of mining activities in the country.

Adding that the Federal government has embarked on massive sensitization on the harmful illegal mining.

“What we try to do is to take the most important precaution. We realized that the most important thing is to educate the illegal operators and encourage them to legalize their activities by forming cooperatives.

We have had about two workshops in Zamfara State to educate them. We brought in all the stakeholders including the security operatives in the state to make sure that the right atmosphere is established,” Sada said