The Director-General of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Matthew Adepoju, has called on the federal government to end illegal mining activities in Abuja.
Adepoju said this in response to the earth tremor experienced in the Mpape, Maitama, Gishiri and Katampe areas of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The Director-General of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA), Professor Olusegun Ige, had on Wednesday urged residents not to panic.
“The tremors are a result of accumulated stress along the identified faults and released seismic energy, which may have travelled through associated fractures to areas where the tremors were felt around the FCT,” NGSA DG said.
But the NASRDA DG said in a monitored interview that borehole drilling, rock blasting and mining activities must be done with caution to avoid worsening the situation.
Adepoju said, “When you have human activities, those rocks have their roots deep beneath the earth’s surface, so, as you are blasting them, it has a massive effect on what is going on. Other activities in Abuja are the drilling of boreholes.
“A large number of households in Abuja are running on boreholes. That is why the FCT Administration needs to look into public water. Most of the new settlements like estates in residential areas, Lokogoma, and Life Camp do not have public water.”
He urged the government to implement all the laws that criminalise illegal mining and rock blasting.
He added, “It is an essential thing for us to do. Implement the laws criminalising indiscriminate mining, rock blasting, and digging. Fortunately, I served in development control.
“I know the mechanism is there, but we need to strengthen it because you can not build, you can not conduct quarry activities without having approval from the government, and if some people are mining and doing quarry activities without approval, then the development control and other mechanisms of government need to put more effort to stop it.”
