Residents of Latya community in Du District, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State, have threatened to block roads linking the area to Jos over an unresolved mining dispute, giving the state government until Friday, November 13, to address their grievances.
The threat followed a protest on Wednesday against the closure of a mining site by security operatives, with residents alleging that the prolonged shutdown had deprived hundreds of people of their livelihoods and deepened disagreements over land rights and the operation of a disputed mining lease.
The latest protest represents a fresh development in a dispute that has attracted public attention since September, when the Berom Youth Moulders-Association (BYM) called for the revocation of Mining Lease No. ML-129, allegedly issued to Dr. Joshua Egbagbe for mining activities in the community.
The association had questioned the circumstances surrounding the issuance of the lease, particularly its relationship with an earlier Mining Lease No. ML-126, and alleged that the interests of landowners and the host community were not adequately considered.
Speaking during Wednesday’s protest, the community’s youth leader, James Gyang Samuel, said the closure of the mining site had affected hundreds of residents, particularly women, widows, orphans and other vulnerable persons who depended on mining activities for their livelihoods.
He said many families relied on the activities at the site to provide food, pay school fees and meet other basic needs.
Samuel also called for an investigation into the validity of the mining licence being used by the company, insisting that the relevant authorities should establish whether the necessary approvals and requirements for its operation had been fulfilled.
“There are concerns within the community over the validity of the mining licence being used by the company. We are calling on the relevant authorities to investigate its authenticity and establish whether the necessary approvals were obtained to operate in this community,” he said.
He further called for the withdrawal of security operatives from the site, arguing that the dispute should be addressed through the appropriate regulatory authorities, particularly the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
The community’s woman leader, Mrs Justina Ezekiel Dem, alleged that the mining company had operated in the area for nearly 30 years before disagreements emerged with landowners over their land and mining rights.
She said some residents had been taken to court over issues relating to their land and the company’s mining activities.
Dem also claimed that checks at the Mining Cadastre Office raised questions about the company’s authorisation to operate at the disputed location and whether the necessary consent of affected landowners had been obtained.
She called for an investigation to establish the facts surrounding the company’s mining rights and ensure that the interests of the host community were protected.
On the economic implications of the closure, Dem said several women who obtained loans from cooperative societies to invest in mining activities were now struggling to repay their debts because they could no longer work at the site.
She appealed to the Plateau State Government to intervene, investigate the dispute and ensure that the community was not excluded from the benefits of mineral resources found on its ancestral land.
However, Egbagbe, Managing Director of Mining Technologies Company Limited (MTS), had previously rejected allegations of irregularity surrounding the lease, maintaining that the company possessed the necessary statutory documents and that Mining Lease ML-129 was validly obtained.
In earlier media reports, he attributed the dispute to the activities of alleged illegal miners and maintained that the company’s operations had been frustrated by the inability to access the mining site.
He also explained that the transition from the earlier lease designation to ML-129 followed a federal government revalidation process involving the migration of mining records from an analogue to a digital system.
Egbagbe had called for an independent committee involving government officials, traditional leaders, security agencies and community representatives to investigate the dispute and establish the facts.
The community, however, maintained its demand for government intervention, warning that it might resort to blocking roads connecting Latya to Jos if its complaints were not addressed by Friday.
Efforts to obtain the reaction of the Plateau State Commissioner for Environment, Climate Change and Mineral Development, Hon. Dr. Joshua Ubandoma Laven, were unsuccessful, as calls to his telephone line were not answered as of the time of filing this report.
