Clutching on tightly to her two-year-old sibling, Labake Oladele, nine, ran as fast as her tiny legs could carry her. Two huge stones had just landed inches away from where she and other kids were playing that afternoon. The thunderous bang abruptly punctured their ‘party’, sending the little children scampering in different directions for satefy. For Labake and dozens of kids in Sokan, a small community tucked away in the slopes of Odeda town in Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State, the chilling experience is not a completely new one these days. Killer stones flying towards the village in droves from a nearby quarry – Krisjam Investment Limited – at different times of the day have become one sad phenomenon they have grown to know.
Even the old within the community have no answer to the disturbing situation. Everybody takes to their heels once the stones come raining down.
It has been two solid years of fear and anxiety for the people of Sokan. Since the arrival of the quarry in the area in 2012, life has suddenly taken a different turn for many households and individuals within the community. Constant blasting of heavy stones from the mining facility and the vibration that comes along with it, now contribute in making the people’s lives hellish. Wherever you turn to in this village, cracked walls, shattered roofs and frustrated faces are all you see – a huge testimony to the threat the people now face. The massive deposit of rock-stones – nature’s gift to the community – is now the locals’ biggest nightmare. Residents told Saturday PUNCH how their once serene and happy existence has been extinguished by fear and uncertainty.
“We don’t have peace of mind anymore,” Sunday Ogundimu, a 70-year-old farmer in Sokan told our correspondent. “This is the second year that we are facing this problem. The roof of my house has been partially destroyed as a result of stones blasted from the quarry crashing on it.
“The children are always in shock. They don’t understand what type of sound it is and so they run and hide in the house as fast as their legs can carry them whenever the blast goes off.
“We have been to the local government several times to complain about the situation but the officials have done nothing about it. The mother of the king of Odeda is from Sokan, so if he insists that he doesn’t want the quarry in our village to remain, they would be gone. But he has also done nothing about the situation and we are now suffering in silence while the quarry operators profit from our own resource. We are really saddened by the situation,” he said.
The leader of the community, Aremu Oguntola, 81, is also troubled by the latest development. He explained toSaturday PUNCH what daily living now looks like for many of Sokan’s inhabitants.
“What our eyes have seen, our mouths cannot tell it all,” he began. “One of our sons established a poultry farm here but it is the quarry that destroyed it with huge stones regularly flying from the site during blasting. It killed the birds and destroyed the entire roof and facility. It has been a terrible experience for us.
“The quarry owners do not care about our safety. Instead, they have made day and night miserable for us. It is not as if we are benefitting anything from them. There is no single person from Sokan who has been employed by the quarry since tthe owners started operating about three years ago. All the people working there are outsiders. We benefit nothing from them.
“Even when we are working on our farms, we are constantly on the look-out for flying stones. The stones can kill if they hit you with the kind of force with which they fly out during blasting. So we want them to vacate our land before we all lose our lives,” he said.
Narrating to our correspondent how their present ordeal began, Oguntola revealed that all those who should come to their rescue have continued to look the other way. Only a miracle, he concedes, can turn things around for them.
“The quarry owners came to buy stones here some time ago but later bought the land from some of our people,” he explains. “It was a fraudulent deal. They capitalised on our illiteracy to exploit and punish us. If you hear the amount they bought that place, you will be shocked. We have been cheated gravely because the entire village has benefitted nothing from the quarry.
“The local government and police have all been bribed and that is why they cannot do anything about it. We have been to these two places several times but nothing has been forthcoming. We have been making efforts on this matter and in fact the case is in court as we speak. Some of our people took the matter to court. It’s been over one year but nothing has come out of it yet. We are calling on the government to please come to our rescue before we all die from this torment,” he said.
The heavy blasts from Krisjam Investment Limited have left more than just cracked walls and leaking roofs behind in this agrarian settlement – there are more devastating hallmarks on the landscape.
“We have several people who have developed hearing problems and have also died as a result of this problem,” Christiana Oladapo, a 52-year-old mother of five said, “It was the blast that killed an elderly woman earlier this year. She was trying to run into her house when the blast went off but she fell to the ground and fainted. She developed a serious illness from that day and eventually died shortly afterwards.
“Since the company was established here, our lives have been made miserable by the constant and heavy blasting from the quarry. Once the blasting goes off, we take to different directions. This is what our lives have been turned to today,” she said.
Last year, at the height of the crisis, Sokan’s only school, St. Paul Anglican Primary School, was shut down by the local government and its pupils moved to another school about three kilometers away from the town. The village has no hospital of its own, clean drinking water, electricity, good roads or any other basic necessity to make life worthwhile for its people. Despite housing huge deposits of rock stones and contributing significantly to the national economy, much of Sokan lay prostrate, without any form of development. It has been like this for a long time and might remain so, at least in the foreseeable future.
Manager of Krisjam Investment Limited, Mr. Peter Atanda, while explaining to our correspondent how the company’s operations started in Sokan, revealed measures being taken to ease the people’s pains. He denied that their facility was now a threat to the existence of the community or to Odeda as a whole.
“It is not true that stones from our facility destroy the entire village. Even when the Baale of the village and some of their people came to us to complain about some of these problems, I sent some of my workers to go and verify the claims and we compensated them for the damage immediately.
“Recently, we gave some of them roofing sheets, woods and other items to repair their houses. Before we blast, we always blow sirens to alert them so that they can stay in a safe place. Also, I make sure that two of our workers are always on ground in the village to communicate with us in the mine during such periods. We are mindful of the people’s safety and that is why we subscribe to care and safety of the highest standard.
“On the issue of the land, we bought that place about two years ago when we started operation from the people. The land belonged to three parts but one of the parties took the entire money away and so the others who did not benefit from it took us to court. The matter has been in court since.
“We bought the land from the owners through agents. They took us to the families directly and we negotiated on a one on one basis with them. The Commissioner for Local Government Affairs in Ogun State is a witness to that agreement. We told the families that even if there was anyone entitled to payment that has died; they should put a representative forward so that such persons could get their own share too. The families discussed among themselves and then brought forward three persons and we paid them. However, one of the parties played smart on his people and pocketed the whole money. That was how those affected took the matter to court. We are willing to cooperate with the community if they are willing too,” he said.
Sad as it sounds, it is not only residents of this small community who now live at the mercy of constant blasting, heavy vibrations and flying killer stones from quarries operating around. Across most parts of the local government area itself, the situation is the same – splintered walls, collapsed structures and long faces are all that greet you.
In Odeda town for example, the administrative headquarters of the entire area, where more than eight other quarries operate daily, blasting huge stones in earth-quaking bangs, palpable tension now pervades every nook and cranny. It is a situation troubling more than a few hearts already.
“Everybody panics in fear whenever the blasts from the quarries go off,” Funmilola Asunmo, a canteen operator, told our correspondent. “You would think it is war because houses would be vibrating. People who are hypertensive cannot live here. They would die in no time.”
Joshua Okafor, a native of Imo State who has lived in Odeda for 30 years, is another resident who the latest development is bothering. He told Saturday PUNCH that the situation is not only taking sleep away from their eyes, but also threatening their sources of livelihood, too.
“There is hardly any building around our area that you won’t find cracks on the wall,” he said. “When the quarries blast, little children are scared. Even though some of us are used to the situation now, we are not comfortable with it any longer because it is making life tough for us.
“The blasting occurs daily and nowadays they even do it at night too. It is difficult to sleep at night because of this noise.
“Our farmlands are also being affected as a result of trucks moving in and out of the quarries. These heavy vehicles destroy our crops and nobody compensates us for that,” he disclosed.
Thirty-six-year-old Isaiah Adekola, who combines farming with cane weaving, is also familiar with the latest threat to lives and properties in this part of Nigeria. Recalling a recent frightening experience to our correspondent, the father of three said nobody feels safe any longer in the town.
“On Thursday, September 25, at about 8:00pm, a blast from one of the quarries went off and everywhere was in commotion. Whoever had hypertension and heard such a noise would die of shock instantly. We were all afraid; we thought it was a bomb. It was later we learnt it was a blast from one of the quarries.
“This problem is really making life unbearable for us, we don’t want it anymore. If you look across Odeda, you will find nothing less than 15 quarries. This is too much for us especially on the threat they now pose to our lives.
“Take a look at most houses in the town and you will find cracks on the walls as a result of this problem. A number of houses have collapsed as a result of this issue. The quarry operators are not considerate. They don’t care about our safety and that of our children,” he said.
In Otere village, another part of the local government area where blasting activities have been going on for more than seven years, our correspondent saw environmental damage at its rawest form. Houses, farmlands and roads all bear witness to the hazard the people now contend with. Their health has been gravely endangered while their major source of livelihood – farming – is now under severe risk. Findings by our correspondent also reveal that majority of the quarries operating in the village and other parts of Odeda do not have environmental impact assessment certificate or a plan on how to repair damage done to the environment during blasting. Projects to show the companies were socially responsible to their host communities were also missing from the picture. It is a case of complete exploitation, Saturday PUNCH discovered.
Western Quarry Limited and DLK Quarries are among several others whose blasting activities are also causing residents of Odeda and environs sleepless nights. Tired of the situation, the people are now calling for the closure of these facilities – they say they are better off without them.
Over the years, there have been complaints occasioned by the activities of quarries across the country. Experts say the issues usually border around visual intrusion, damage to landscapes, noise, dust, loss of land, and deterioration in water quality. Companies have been found to flagrantly flout laid out rules all in a bid to raking in billions of naira annually at the expense of their host communities.
Though, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Architect Musa Mohammed Sada, recently said that operators not respecting the laws of the sector will be suspended or have their licenses completely revoked if necessary adjustments were not made, most quarry operators in Odeda have carried on with their activities without due consideration for their immediate environment and its people. The impact of this sad development, locals told our correspondent, continue to cause them untold hardship.
Officials at the Local Government secretariat who spoke with Saturday PUNCH off record because they were yet to get the approval of the chairman when our correspondent visited, said they were helpless on the issue of the quarries and the damage they were causing the people and the environment as a whole. Efforts to address the situation, they claim, have been frustrated several times by owners of the facilities who have powerful networks at the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development who has the exclusive rights on the sector.
“The quarry operators are very hostile to us even despite the fact that they are operating on our territory. When we approach them for tenement levies and other fees that they are supposed to pay to the local government, they simply shut their gates at us, insisting that they don’t have business with us but with the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development which gave them approval to carry on with their activities in the area.
“Even our environment team that has approached them for proper assessment test and other safety procedures, they have simply turned them down. As a local government, we get nothing from them, nor do our people benefit anything from their operations. They have the backing of the ministry and that is why they are doing whatever they like,” one of the officials said.
Though, the local government administration claims it gets nothing from the millions blasted away from its terrain by the quarries, our correspondent however discovered that it could be benefitting from the windfall through other means.
“We pay heavy levies and taxes to the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, and the Federal Inland Revenue. In July, the Federal Government gave the Ogun State Government about N200m as royalties from what we have been paying to distribute among the various local governments that have mines. I am sure that money has been distributed accordingly. So, one way or the other, we honour our responsibilities to the administration here in Odeda. What we pay to the federal purse comes back to them. This is the true situation of things,” one quarry manager who asked not to be named told our correspondent, contrasting the local government’s position on the matter.
Apart from the environmental impact of quarrying activities in most parts of Odeda, a health crisis could also be looming on the horizon. Leakage from the mining site into ground water has already been found to pose serious challenges for the community, putting the health of the people in great danger. Most homes rely on sachet water for drinking while those who cannot afford it, simply turn to well water for relief, risking several water borne diseases in the process. The only public water project constructed by the government a few years ago, is largely inadequate to address the demands on ground. When our correspondent visited the community recently, the huge tank opposite the secretariat looked rusty while the taps underneath also showed similar signs – an indication that it might have been a while since water flowed out of them.
“We do not have clean drinking water here, we drink from the well and also rain water. If we don’t buy ‘pure’ water, then we have to settle for the water from the well. The well water is causing a lot of sicknesses especially malaria and typhoid. I just spent almost N3, 000 on drugs for my children two weeks ago. This is what we have been passing through over the years,” Yemisi Akintola, a middle-aged mother of four disclosed.
According to a medical doctor, Patience Jiba, most residents of Odeda stand the risk of hearing problems, asthma, lung cancers and other respiratory issues as a result of noise and air pollution caused by the activities of the quarries. The situation, she says, could be critical than thought.
“The blasts from the quarries come in hundreds of decibels if not thousands. This is very dangerous for hearing and could surely damage the eardrums if one is constantly exposed to it.
“Also, because the air is also polluted with dust and other chemical compounds, people living close to quarries of mining sites stand the risk of developing asthma, cancer and other renal diseases. It is a very dangerous situation,” she said.
One of the largest in Ogun State, Odeda Local Government boasts an extensive landmass arable for agriculture and tourism. With a massive area of 1263.45sqkm and a bulging population of 109,449 according to the 2006 population census, a figure believed to have doubled today, the area houses over 25 urban areas and more than 860 villages where farming, hunting and livestock rearing is a prominent feature.
The area is also home to a number of prominent institutions including the Federal University of Agriculture, Obantoko, Federal College of Education, Osiele, the Ogun/Osun River Basin Development Authority and the headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force in the state at Eleweran.
As a result of its population, location and size, Odeda is among the most contested areas during political campaigns and election periods. Its votes play a key role in the politics of the state.
But even with these tremendous attributes and natural endowments, much of the local government still lie fallow, begging for development in almost every aspect. Locals told our correspondent that most of the lofty promises during election periods remain largely unfulfilled. The issue of quarries and the threat they pose, is just the latest dimension to the people’s troubles in this vast Ogun community.
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