By Chimaobi Nwaiwu, Nnewi

Anambra State Government and Sand Miners Association of Anambra State, branch, have made peace, and resolved to work together for meaningful development of the state.

The agreement to partner with each other follows a peace meeting brokered between the state government and Sand miners through the Commissioner for Petroleum and Mineral Resources in the state Chief Anthony Ifeanya, and his counterpart in the State Ministry Environment, Dr Felix Odimegwu.

The Ananbra State Government before the peace meeting had unknown to the Sand miners been displeased with them following the impression that they were destroying a newly constructed road in Fegge Onitsha, which subsequently led to the invasion of the Sand Miners beaches by men of Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra State, OCHA, Brigade, on Thursday February 1, 2024.

The invasion of the Sand Miners beaches by the OCHA Brigade, who later paraded some children and workers of Sand Miners they arrested in their Sand beaches, as illegal sand miners, attracted backlashes for the OCHA Brigade, and did not go down well with the Sand miners, who subsequently took their protest to Awka the state capital to know the reason for the unannounced invasion of their beaches and alleged destruction of some of their equipment.

Following the protest by the Sand Miners, the two Commissioner invited them to Awka on another date for a meeting, but the Sand miners requested that the meeting be held in Onitsha for to properly brief them on their offense and to appreciate the damages by the operatives of OCHA Brigade at their sand beaches, a request the two Commissioner obliged them.

However, during the meeting at Top Ranks Hotel Onitsha, the two Commissioners respectively expressed their displeasure over how the alleged activities of the Sand miners were destroying the newly constructed Niger Street Road Fegge Onitsha, which also leads to Onitsha Main Market, saying that the state government next plan was to ban their operation in the area, but the invasion of the OCHA Brigade operatives was a warning to them.

However, responding to allegation, Chairman of the Sand miners in the state Chief Chris Mbaegbu, who was surrounded by his Deputy Chief Desmond Onyekpu and a member of the Board of Trustees of the association, Chief Damian Onyekachi, legal adviser of the association, Chief Arinze Azubigo and other members of the executives of association. denied the allegation, saying that they cannot destroy the road they were maintaining before the government intervention.

Chief Mbaegbu and Chief Onyekachi recalled how they suggested to the government when the construction of the road commence, the need to set up a task force to regulate the activities of the tipper drivers when government earlier complained that they were destroying the road with their overloading activities, a suggestion the government earlier accepted but later ignored.

Chief Mbaegu and Chief Onyekachi also told the Commissioners that apart from topper drivers who regularly use the road, that lorry and trailer drivers who also use the road to offload goods for the traders in the Onitsha Main Market should also be held accountable for alleged damages being done on the road, adding Sand miners have nothing to do with the alleged damages on the road.

According to Chief Mbaegbu, “During the invasion our sand beaches, some of our equipment were seized by the operatives of the OCHA Brigade, who also sealed our sand beaches, which was later unsealed by the National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA who regulates our activities.”

“Our members were appropriately licensed to operate by Federal Ministry of Environment and the National Inland Waterway Authority’ NIWA, and therefore, cannot be branded illegal miners like the OCHA Brigade operatives did, we are law abiding citizens that pay heavy tax to the state government, so OCHA Brigade invasion of our sand beaches was misplaced.

” Our sand beaches were wrongly invaded and some of our equipment destroyed, while others were seized, for an offense we did not committed. We have been against some tipper drivers who have continued to disobey the directive of both the government and the association not to overload their vehicles, which cause damages on the roads.”

Legal adviser of the association, Chief Arinze Azubigo, who also spoke during the meeting regretted that the government which he and his clients worked so hard to enthrone, could authorize such invasion without notice to his clients.

Accordibg to Azunogu, “It is regrettable that during the invasion one of my clients workers who out of fear on the manner of the invasion, by OCHA Brigade, jump into the River Niger, is still missing till date and his family has been on the neck of my clients”

“My clients have not received similar treatment from the Federal Ministry of Environment and NIWA, who gave them all the required licenses, including Environmental Impact Assessment, EIA, permission result, with which they operate, but were treated shabbily by State government they pay huge amount of taxes and revenues to.”

The meeting which initially started with tempers of members of the Sand miners rising, following what they termed as ‘wrongly directed attacks and intimidation of their members for offense they did not commit” was made conducive for both parties by the two commissioners who apologized to them for the action OCHA Brigade who they said carried the invasion based on the law establishing them, and promised to ensure the return of all the materials seized by the OCHA Brigade operatives.

They appealed to the Sand miners to assist the government to regulate the activities of their customers, particularly, the tipper drivers who overload their vehicles and cases damages on the roads with splashes of sands that drops on the road from their vehicles, urging them to insist that the tipper drivers cover the sand they carry before leaving their sand pits or beaches.