Lead poisoning linked with illegal gold mining has killed a further 400 children in northern Nigeria since November, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said on Monday.
The latest figures suggest the death toll from the crisis in the northern state of Zamfara is rising after the United Nations said lead poisoning in the region had killed at least 400 children between March and October last year. El Shafii Muhammad Ahmad, project director for Medecines Sans Frontieres (MSF), said reports of 400 deaths "is an under-estimation because many lead-related deaths are never reported and in many cases, these communities attribute them to other factors or deny them altogether."
He said local communities mainly concealed or denied the fatalities and illnesses from lead poisoning for fear that authorities will ban their mining activities, he added.
The environmental implications of illegal mining are quite diverse. The first is that it destroys farmland and distorts the livelihood of agrarian communities. The trenches dug for these mining activities are abandoned after the mining is over. They therefore become death traps and easy entry points for devastating gully erosions.
As was in the case of the communities in Zamfara State, many of these mines are contaminated with impurities. In this case, gold ash was intermingled with deposits of lead. In a few cases, some of the impurities are even radioactive in nature. Impoverished farmers dig up rocks by hand in open mines, but the ore being unearthed around their villages contains high concentrations of lead, contaminating the air, soil and water.
The intoxications were caused by the illegal extraction of ore by villagers, who would transport crushed rock home from the mines to extract the gold.
The soil containing lead deposits would then be haphazardly disposed of, exposing children to inhalation or ingestion. Excessive lead can cause irreparable damage to the nervous and reproductive systems and the kidneys. It is especially harmful to young children and pregnant women who pass the metal on to fetuses or to babies via breastfeeding.
"The immature body system of children exposed to contaminated soils and gold processing tools tends to rapidly absorb associated lead and in the process poisoning then leading to convulsion, paralysis and even death," NEMA Director General, Muhammad Sani-Sidi, said in a statement on Monday.
A U.N. report earlier this year, based on a joint assessment mission, said high levels of lead pollution were found in soil and mercury levels in the air were nearly 500 times the acceptable limit in some villages in Zamfara.
The report said many children under five and adults tested in the affected areas had "extremely high levels of lead in their blood" while lead limits in drinking water tested exceeded U.N. standards, in at least one case by 10 times.
1. A starving albino boy, harassed and discriminated against for the color of his skin, clutches an empty corned-beef tin at an orphanage.
Biafra 1969, by Don McCullin
"The day I came across that boy was a killer day for me.
"There were 800 dying children in that schoolhouse.
"The boy is near death. He is trying to support himself. And to see this kind of pathetic photographer appear with a Nikon around his neck.
"He was staring at me and I thought, 'I wish he wouldn't look at me, because it was really unnerving me.'
"So I went away and I was talking to one of the doctors and suddenly somebody touched my hand and he was holding my hand."
"I was on the verge of really crying."
2. "The Biafra fiasco of the late 1960s. Remember?
"The world was supposed to mobilise to defend Biafran rebels...
"Global protests prolonged the war and caused countless deaths...
"Fewer Biafrans would have starved to death if Biafran leaders had not calculated that more starvation would stir up support from human rights advocates in faraway countries."
3. "The Biafran Genocide of 1966 to 1970 claimed 3.1 million Igbo/Biafrans because Nigeria and Britain wanted to keep Nigeria one." - Osita Ebiem, December 2010 (NIGERIA'S MANY GENOCIDES)
"Recent Muslim-Christian clashes ... have left hundreds of people dead and more than 1,000 wounded...
"Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, with a population of 133 million in 2002.
"It is also home to the world's sixth largest Muslim population.
"It has estimated oil reserves of 27 billion barrels (over 2.6 percent of global proven reserves).
"Given Nigeria's location and ports, the country could be an economic hub for western and central Africa.
"Regrettably, political instability and military coups, combined with inept economic governance and endemic corruption, have squandered Nigeria's advantages.
"Since gaining independence in 1960, Nigeria has experienced civil war and numerous coups, with only 13 years of democratic government...
"Violence, kidnapping, sabotage, and other criminal activity in the southern oil-rich region often disrupt production - dramatically affecting an economy in which the oil sector accounted for 65 percent of budget revenue, 95 percent of exports, and 20 percent of the GDP in 2001...
"Poverty, political corruption, an absence of the rule of law, and a fractious society (250 ethnic groups and a population split between Christians and Muslims) make Nigeria ripe for exploitation...
"Nigeria has experienced increased ethnic and religious violence and tensions after 12 of the country's 36 states adopted the Islamic Shar'ia law.
"The BBC reports that over 10,000 people have died in communal and religious violence since 1999."
China hopes to grab certain oil blocks from western energy groups, Shell, Chevron, Total and ExxonMobil.
Goodluck Jonathan, now Nigeria's president, shakes hands with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in Abuja, capital of Nigeria, 8 January 2010.
The car bomb explosions killed eight people in Lagos, Nigeria's capital.
Former President, General Ibrahim Babangida, allegedly a CIA asset, was the only past Nigerian leader absent at the Independence Day ceremony.(IBB, Atiku absent at celebration)
MEND, Nigeria's Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Nigeria's biggest rebel militia, reportedly warned it had planted bombs.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan was quoted by AFP news agency as saying: "It has nothing to do with Mend."
MEND wants a greater share of oil revenues to go to the impoverished Niger Delta, home to Africa's biggest oil and gas industry.
Reportedly, MEND has struck at off-shore oil installations.
In 2009, an amnesty was agreed with rebels in the Delta.
MEND may have been infiltrated by a certain group.
Allegedly, in Nigeria, the CIA is "positioning Ibrahim B. Babangida to return to power." (CIA Agents & Nigeria.)
Orji Kalu, linked to a mysterious death.He may be Babangida's running mate.
The CIA may want Ibrahim Babangida standing as the presidential candidate and Orji Uzor Kalu as his running mate.
General Ibrahim Babangida ruled Nigeria from his coup against Muhammadu Buhari in 1985 until his departure in 1993.
Allegedly, Babangida is a CIA asset.
"The CIA cut a deal with Babangida, where Nigeria was used as a major drug transit and money laundering center for the proceeds of the CIA drug trade." (CIA Agents & Nigeria.)
Orji Uzor Kalu was a candidate for President of Nigeria in the April 2007 general election. [1]
"Reports say, Kalu drives into CIA Virginia Headquarters freely, with little on no clearance required of him as expected of visitors at CIA headquarters; sources told RR that only CIA agents and its operatives can have such access in that CIA Virginia facility, others pointed that Orji Uzor Kalu is in proximity to CIA Virgina headquarters, ‘he is their boy’ another commentator who spoke on condition of anonymity added." (CIA Agents & Nigeria.)
Reportedly, Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian 'underwear bomber', bound for Detroit, was doing the work of the CIA and Mossad.
Former dictator Ibrahim Babangida and Kalu may be CIA operatives (Moshood Abiola too) who assisted the US, with drug trafficking.
The CIA may want Ibrahim Babangida standing as the presidential candidate and Orji Uzor Kalu as his running mate.
Reportedly, the CIA did not want Chinwe Masi's mysterious death in Kalu’s Mansion to become a distraction to the “CIA Nigeria Roadmap”.
If Nigeria becomes balkanised (broken up along tribal lines) by 2015 or earlier as predicted by the CIA, the US will use its AFRICOM to protect the oil-wells.
In 1986, the Time Magazine reported that during the Reagan administration, the U.S had the elite commando unit, the SEALS, dispatched to several different countries for covert activities.
This unit was in Nigeria in August 1985, during the week that Babangida overthrew Muhammadu Buhari.
General Buhari
After the coup, the CIA cut a deal with Babangida, where Nigeria was used as a major drug transit and money laundering center for the proceeds of the CIA drug trade.
The phony or rogue bank, BCCI (Bank of Credit and Commerce International) was used to launder the proceeds of the drug business and take them out of the country.
Babangida’s loot left the country through this bank. Remember that branches of this bank were everywhere in Lagos and the North.
Journalist Dele Giwa stumbled on this information about drugs and was about to break the news when, in 1986, he was killed by a mail bomb.
Dele Giwa
Toward the end of 1986, or 1987, Babangida was given a “Strategic” award, by the Heritage Foundation.
There was an explosion of drug activities during Babangida’s regime.
It was during Babangida’s regime that most of the wealth was looted.
"Monumental kleptocrat and notorious dictator" General Sani Abacha, President of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998. He was trained at the Defence Officers cadet Training College in Aldershot, England.
Abacha and Abiola may have been killed with the assistance of the CIA.
The only leader that Nigerian people ever elected was Abiola.
Moshood Abiola (1937 – 1998) ran for the presidency in 1993, and won, but remained President-Elect till his death, as he was denied his mandate when the election results were annulled by the preceding military president Ibrahim Babangida.
Nigeria needs the likes of Nuhu Ribadus, Gani Fawhinmis, Tai Solarins, Mohammed Buharis and Babatunde Idiagbons.
Most of Nigeria's problems, especially the Niger Delta, can be traced back to LONDON AND WASHINGTON, through their multinational corporations.
China hopes to grab certain oil blocks from western energy groups, Shell, Chevron, Total and ExxonMobil.
Goodluck Jonathan, now Nigeria's president, shakes hands with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in Abuja, capital of Nigeria, 8 January 2010.
The car bomb explosions killed eight people in Lagos, Nigeria's capital.
Former President, General Ibrahim Babangida, allegedly a CIA asset, was the only past Nigerian leader absent at the Independence Day ceremony.(IBB, Atiku absent at celebration)
MEND, Nigeria's Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Nigeria's biggest rebel militia, reportedly warned it had planted bombs.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan was quoted by AFP news agency as saying: "It has nothing to do with Mend."
MEND wants a greater share of oil revenues to go to the impoverished Niger Delta, home to Africa's biggest oil and gas industry.
Reportedly, MEND has struck at off-shore oil installations.
In 2009, an amnesty was agreed with rebels in the Delta.
MEND may have been infiltrated by a certain group.
Allegedly, in Nigeria, the CIA is "positioning Ibrahim B. Babangida to return to power." (CIA Agents & Nigeria.)
Orji Kalu, linked to a mysterious death.He may be Babangida's running mate.
The CIA may want Ibrahim Babangida standing as the presidential candidate and Orji Uzor Kalu as his running mate.
General Ibrahim Babangida ruled Nigeria from his coup against Muhammadu Buhari in 1985 until his departure in 1993.
Allegedly, Babangida is a CIA asset.
"The CIA cut a deal with Babangida, where Nigeria was used as a major drug transit and money laundering center for the proceeds of the CIA drug trade." (CIA Agents & Nigeria.)
Orji Uzor Kalu was a candidate for President of Nigeria in the April 2007 general election. [1]
"Reports say, Kalu drives into CIA Virginia Headquarters freely, with little on no clearance required of him as expected of visitors at CIA headquarters; sources told RR that only CIA agents and its operatives can have such access in that CIA Virginia facility, others pointed that Orji Uzor Kalu is in proximity to CIA Virgina headquarters, ‘he is their boy’ another commentator who spoke on condition of anonymity added." (CIA Agents & Nigeria.)
Reportedly, Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian 'underwear bomber', bound for Detroit, was doing the work of the CIA and Mossad.
Former dictator Ibrahim Babangida and Kalu may be CIA operatives (Moshood Abiola too) who assisted the US, with drug trafficking.
The CIA may want Ibrahim Babangida standing as the presidential candidate and Orji Uzor Kalu as his running mate.
Reportedly, the CIA did not want Chinwe Masi's mysterious death in Kalu’s Mansion to become a distraction to the “CIA Nigeria Roadmap”.
If Nigeria becomes balkanised (broken up along tribal lines) by 2015 or earlier as predicted by the CIA, the US will use its AFRICOM to protect the oil-wells.
In 1986, the Time Magazine reported that during the Reagan administration, the U.S had the elite commando unit, the SEALS, dispatched to several different countries for covert activities.
This unit was in Nigeria in August 1985, during the week that Babangida overthrew Muhammadu Buhari.
General Buhari
After the coup, the CIA cut a deal with Babangida, where Nigeria was used as a major drug transit and money laundering center for the proceeds of the CIA drug trade.
The phony or rogue bank, BCCI (Bank of Credit and Commerce International) was used to launder the proceeds of the drug business and take them out of the country.
Babangida’s loot left the country through this bank. Remember that branches of this bank were everywhere in Lagos and the North.
Journalist Dele Giwa stumbled on this information about drugs and was about to break the news when, in 1966, he was killed by a mail bomb.
Dele Giwa
Toward the end of 1986, or 1987, Babangida was given a “Strategic” award, by the Heritage Foundation.
There was an explosion of drug activities during Babangida’s regime.
It was during Babangida’s regime that most of the wealth was looted.
"Monumental kleptocrat and notorious dictator" General Sani Abacha, President of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998. He was trained at the Defence Officers cadet Training College in Aldershot, England.
Abacha and Abiola may have been killed with the assistance of the CIA.
The only leader that Nigerian people ever elected was Abiola.
Moshood Abiola (1937 – 1998) ran for the presidency in 1993, and won, but remained President-Elect till his death, as he was denied his mandate when the election results were annulled by the preceding military president Ibrahim Babangida.
Nigeria needs the likes of Nuhu Ribadus, Gani Fawhinmis, Tai Solarins, Mohammed Buharis and Babatunde Idiagbons.
Most of Nigeria's problems, especially the Niger Delta, can be traced back to LONDON AND WASHINGTON, through their multinational corporations.
Nigerian Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan shakes hands with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in Abuja, capital of Nigeria, 8 January 2010.
On 1 October 2010, Nigeria is celebrating 50 years of so called independence.
Indonesia and Nigeria are similar.
Both Nigeria and Indonesia have oil and gas.
Both, at independence, had similar standards of living.
Both have suffered from military rule and corruption.
In 1965, there was a CIA coup in Indonesia which put the military into power.
Nigeria had a coup in 1966.
And also in 1976, when the CIA reportedly put Olusegun Obasanjo into power. (THE CIA IN NIGERIA)
Lead poisoning linked with illegal gold mining has killed a further 400 children in northern Nigeria since November, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said on Monday.
He said local communities mainly concealed or denied the fatalities and illnesses from lead poisoning for fear that authorities will ban their mining activities, he added.
mines are contaminated with impurities. In this case, gold ash was intermingled with deposits of lead. In a few cases, some of the impurities are even radioactive in nature. Impoverished farmers dig up rocks by hand in open mines, but the ore being unearthed around their villages contains high concentrations of lead, contaminating the air, soil and water.
The intoxications were caused by the illegal extraction of ore by villagers, who would transport crushed rock home from the mines to extract the gold.
Excessive lead can cause irreparable damage to the nervous and reproductive systems and the kidneys. It is especially harmful to young children and pregnant women who pass the metal on to fetuses or to babies via breastfeeding.
said high levels of lead pollution were found in soil and mercury levels in the air were nearly 500 times the acceptable limit in some villages in Zamfara.
