Senate moves to strengthen mining safety after Kogi landslide kills 20
The senate has called for stronger safety regulations in Nigeria’s mining sector following a landslide at a coal mining site in Kogi state that claimed 20 lives.
The resolution followed a motion sponsored by Isah Jibrin, senator representing Kogi east, during plenary on Tuesday.
Leading the debate, Jibrin said unsafe coal mining activities in Ankpa LGA and other coal-bearing communities in Kogi had become a major safety, environmental and humanitarian concern.
He said coal mining remained an important economic activity in Enjema, Okaba and Ikah communities in Ankpa LGA, as well as parts of Omala and Olamaboro LGAs, which make up the Ankpa coal block in the Anambra Basin.
Jibrin said the geological composition of the area made it highly susceptible to subsidence, landslides and ground failure, particularly under heavy mechanical loading.
“On or about 14th July, 2026, a significant ground failure and landslide occurred in Alufele in Enjema District within the Ankpa coal mining area, trapping artisanal and small-scale miners underground while several trucks reportedly sank into mining pits during loading operations, leading to the death of twenty workers, and injuries to several others, thereby exposing the extremely hazardous conditions under which mining activities are presently conducted,” he said.
Jibrin said the widespread use of the room-and-pillar mining system without adequate structural reinforcement had substantially increased the risk of mine roof collapses, cave-ins and fatal accidents.
He added that many miners worked under informal arrangements without written employment contracts, health insurance, life insurance or occupational hazard insurance, leaving victims and their families without financial protection whenever accidents occurred.
“The continued occurrence of mine collapses, landslides and related accidents not only threatens human lives but also poses serious environmental, economic and public safety concerns requiring urgent legislative and executive intervention,” Jibrin said.
He added that compulsory workers’ compensation and occupational health protection schemes had become standard practice in leading mining jurisdictions and should be adopted in Nigeria.
“Unless immediate corrective measures are implemented, the unstable geological conditions and unsafe mining practices in the Ankpa Coal Block may result in recurring mine collapses, multiple fatalities, extensive environmental degradation and destruction of valuable mining assets,” he said.
The senate subsequently urged the federal ministry of solid minerals development, particularly its artisanal and small-scale mining department, to conduct an audit of licensed miners and their operations nationwide to strengthen monitoring and regulation.
The upper legislative chamber also called on the federal government to establish a statutory mining workers’ compensation scheme funded through mandatory contributions by licensed mining operators to provide compensation for occupational injuries, permanent disabilities, occupational diseases and deaths arising from mining activities.
Lawmakers directed the senate committee on solid minerals development to prepare legislation establishing the proposed compensation scheme.
The senate also urged the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), in collaboration with the federal ministry of solid minerals development, to develop compulsory occupational accident insurance for all categories of miners, including artisanal and small-scale miners operating under recognised mining cooperatives or community mining arrangements.
The upper legislative chamber further urged the federal government to establish a mine rehabilitation and victims support fund to provide emergency medical treatment, rehabilitation, compensation, educational support for children of deceased miners and livelihood assistance to affected families.
The senate mandated its committees on solid minerals development, environment, labour, employment and productivity, and health to engage relevant ministries, departments and agencies on the implementation of the resolutions and report back within six weeks.
Lawmakers also observed a minute’s silence in honour of the victims of the Kogi mining disaster.
MOTION SHOULD BECOME LEGISLATION
Seconding the motion, Tahir Monguno, senator representing Borno north and senate chief whip, said fatal mining accidents had become a recurring problem across mining communities in the country.
“The issue of mining collapse has become a recurring decimal with the attendant and concomitant effects of deaths, injuries and what have you to miners across the nook and crannies of the country in mining communities,” Monguno said.
“The only panacea to this ugly scenario is to come up with laws and regulations guiding mining practice in Nigeria.
“As it is now, I am in support of the motion, but I will advise my colleague, Senator Isah Jibrin Echocho, and other senators who have mining communities in their senatorial districts, to come up with robust laws and regulations and present them in the form of a bill, so that the senate, being the legislative arm of government, will now pass them into law, rather than moving them as a motion, which is persuasive and doesn’t have coercive powers.”