Calls for accountability over the reported deaths of minors linked to illegal mining in Niger State are gathering momentum.
The Abuja School of Politics is the latest group demanding an independent investigation, proper autopsies and scrutiny of everyone whose actions or negligence may have contributed to the deaths.
The group says the circumstances surrounding the deaths must be established through credible investigation, with no room for cover-up, It wants any public official or other individual found culpable to face prosecution.
The Director of the school, Sam Amadi expressed concern over what he described as growing insensitivity to avoidable deaths, urging the media and the public not to become accustomed to recurring loss of lives.
The group is also calling for scrutiny of prominent interests in the mining sector and stronger monitoring of the country’s natural resources.
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It says tackling illegal mining must go beyond criminalisation to addressing poverty and the lack of economic opportunities driving people into the activity.
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(Editor: Nkoli Omhoudu)
