14th November, 2012
The Federal Government has set up an eight-man panel to probe the deaths of nine illegal miners at Dogon Daji village in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara on Oct. 10.
This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by Mr. Marshall Gundu, the Deputy Director of Press, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development.
Members of the panel are drawn from the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society, the Nigerian Society of Mining Engineers, the Zamfara State Ministry of Environment, the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.
The statement quoted Mr. Musa Sada, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development as saying that he set up the panel in line with Section 85 of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act of 2007.
The minister said he had been informed that the victims died in the process of mining gold illegally at the mine site.
According to him, the lives of people are precious and Nigeria cannot afford to lose lives through illegal mining operations anywhere in the country.