Onitsha sand miners have taken to the streets in protest of what they perceive as extortion by the state government of Anambra State. The miners maintain that the federal government, via NIWA, is the only entity to whom they should be held accountable.
Marching on the grounds of NIWA, close to the River Niger, with placards bearing a variety of inscriptions, around 200 members of the Onitsha Sand Miners Association did so. The federal government, which they see as their landlord, has its responsibilities, but they maintain that they have fulfilled them.
Despite receiving necessary paperwork from the federal agency responsible for mining in the River Niger—NIWA—the miners, who are primarily tipper drivers, claim that they have been harassed and extorted by the state government’s Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra, or OCHA Brigade.
Speaking to reporters shortly after the demonstration, Mr. Christopher Mbaegbu, president of the Onitsha Sand Miners Association, expressed his frustration with the state government agency.
Members of the OCHA Brigade have been showing up at the mine site whenever they want, interfering with our operations and even arresting and seizing our tippers; so, we have come here today to lodge a formal complaint over their persistent harassment.
Our hope is that Victor Nwokeocha, the Area Manager of NIWA, will pay attention to our cries for help. We have pertinent NIWA records that bolster our operations, but the OCHA Brigade, a state government body, has been relentless in its harassment and arrests of us.
We are harassed constantly. Nearly twenty tippers, pay loaders, vehicles, and other pieces of equipment were taken by them a week ago. Our employees were taken into custody and held for a duration of two days.
To find out if we should abandon our application to NIWA and instead join OCHA Brigade, we chose to stage this protest to demand to know if the documents they provided us are authentic.
The federal government granted us the right of way to mine here, and we fulfilled all the procedures before NIWA. However, we encounter daily conflicts with OCHA Brigade. This has made us quite unhappy. Over N1 million was posted bail for our members who were arrested, and our equipment is still in the same place.
A question about their accountability to either the federal or state governments was posed on the placards held by the demonstrators. In addition, they claimed that OCHA Brigade operatives extort them for more than N7,000 per trip without providing any proof of payment. They pleaded with the state governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, to warn Prof Charles Ofoegbu, the managing director/CEO of the Anambra State Solid Minerals Development Company Limited (ASSMDC), who they claimed was involved in the extortion plot.
In response to most of the claims, Mr. Celestine Anere, the managing director of OCHA Brigade, stated that the miners and ASSMDCL were involved, with the latter insisting that the miners be registered.
He clarified that they had been requested to register, but that the matter was between them and Professor Ofoegbu. All that remains is for them to register with the state administration; they have already met with him.