Author: By Victor Yeni

In mineral-rich communities across Nigeria, a cycle of deaths has been unleashed on families whose loved ones are dying in illegal artisanal gold mines where crude tools, unstable pits and toxic chemicals have yielded a harvest of environmental damage unchecked, writes VICTOR AYENI

The steady scrape of Jamal Abubakar’s shovel echoed as he cleared the overgrown weeds at the front of a client’s building.

Abubakar had been working with a building construction company within an estate in Magboro, Ogun State, when another client paid him to clear their front lawn.

The 28-year-old moved to the state just over three years ago, leaving behind Kebbi State, where he had spent much of his early adult life.

In Kebbi, he toiled as an artisanal miner, navigating the dusty, uneven terrain of one of the numerous mines dotting the outskirts of the bustling town.

Each day in the mine was a test of endurance, with the sun beating down on open pits and the echo of pickaxes striking stone filling the air.

“The job no easy,” he said in Pidgin English. “I dey work there from morning reach night. They pay me N4,000.” He described the artisans he worked with as a small group who mined for minerals using basic, low-tech methods, often as a subsistence livelihood.