Residents of Galadima-Kogo have appealed to the federal government to deploy modern equipment for the rescue of miners trapped in a pit in the Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger.

A mining site collapsed on Monday in Galadima-kogo village, Shiroro Council Area of Niger, killing one person and trapping several others.

Wasiu Abiodun, spokesperson of the police command in Niger, confirmed that 20 people were initially trapped in the mining pit, but six had been rescued alive.

Some residents of the area, in separate interviews on Friday, expressed worry over the pace of the rescue operation.

Abubakar Sani said the pace of the rescue operation was slow because of the obsolete equipment being used.

“When we noticed that the equipment being used to dig the ground were not effective, we had to mobilise local miners to use their local tools to dig the ground.

“The pit is very deep it is as deep as three electricity poles and the area is rocky. The soil is soft due to rainfall, so to avert another disaster, the locals were asked to stop the rescue operation,” he said.

Mr Sani called on the federal government to deploy specialised equipment to the mining site, saying that some trapped miners might still be alive.

Another resident, Samson Felix, said the government should always match words with actions by deploying experts and specialised equipment to rescue the trapped miners.

He disclosed that his friend is one of the trapped miners, adding that consistent bandit attacks pushed most of them to engage in mining activities.

“Many of our people, out of fear, can no longer go to farm because bandits don’t allow us to farm anymore; they attack us daily on our farmlands.

“To sustain ourselves, some of our people decided to go into mining since the bandits are focused on farmers and not miners,” he said.

According to him, the use of an excavator for rescue operations was not advisable as it may cause injuries to the trapped victims.

Contacted, Habibu Wushishi, the spokesperson for the Niger Ministry for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, said the locals were asked to stop rescue operations to avert another disaster.

(NAN)