INVESTIGATION: How Chinese, Nigerian firms destroy miners’ hopes in Benue

Benue State, known as Nigeria’s food basket, is fast becoming a hotspot for valuable minerals like lithium, zinc, iron, fluorite, lead and gold, some of which play a vital role in the transition to renewable energy.

But beneath this rush for resources lies a trail of insecurity, deaths, deforestation, and environmental ruin. Farmlands are shrinking, homes are displaced by armed groups, water sources are poisoned, and local communities are paying the price with their health and, in some extreme cases, lives.

The story of 70-year-old Moses Tyar, whose son, Vincent Kananfe, was buried alive in a collapsed mining pit, is one of many tragic consequences of unregulated mining in the state.

Buried alive

On the morning of 15 November 2024, Mr Kananfe, a 28-year-old local miner in Tombu Ward, Logo Local Government Area, visited his father before heading to work at a nearby mining site in the Ayilamo community. Ayilamo in Benue North West borders Akwana in the Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State. The village is approximately 227 kilometres from Makurdi, the state capital.

Mr Kananfe had plans to excavate sand for the construction of his house that week.

“He handed over his one-year-old child to us before leaving,” Mr Tyar recalled. “He left on his motorbike, waving, as he said, ‘See you later.'”

By 11 a.m., the family’s world came crashing down. A distressed caller informed Mr Tyar that Mr Kananfe had been trapped in a mining pit collapse. His elder brother, Avalumun, who was with him at the site, recounted the horrifying moment. “We noticed the pit was not properly excavated. Kananfe even said he didn’t feel safe working there. As we were about to climb out, he pointed at a huge rock and said, ‘It looks like that stone is shaking.’ Before he could escape, the boulder crashed down on him.”

Avalumun said he heard only two faint ‘hums’ before silence enveloped the pit. “I waved my hand over his face, but he was gone,” he told PREMIUM TIMES, breaking down in tears. Hours later, Mr Kananfe’s lifeless body was exhumed after the rock was blasted.

Denied closure

Seeking answers, Mr Tyar went to the mining site but was met with hostility. “I was stopped by men who looked like security personnel. They told me I couldn’t see where my son died because the pits were too dangerous. ‘If you go inside, you will die,’ they warned me.”

“They brought his body home and started digging his grave. The next day, 16 November, we buried him.”

Mr Kananfe’s wife, Mmenshima, remains in a state of shock. “She hardly sleeps since her husband died,” said Mr Kananfe’s mother, Mbaidoove. “We have taken her to different hospitals, but nothing has helped. Every night, she wakes up screaming – ‘it’s not happening’ – ‘it’s not happening.'” When asked about her husband, Mmenshima could only weep uncontrollably.

A price on life

The mine where Mr Kananfe died is owned and operated by a Chinese-owned company, Longriver Mining Nigeria Limited.

The company extracts fluorite, lead, zinc, and iron – minerals critical for a range of industrial applications – from its mines in the state. Fluorite is widely used in steel production and chemical manufacturing; lead and zinc are essential for batteries, galvanising, and electronics, while iron remains a foundational material for construction and machinery.

The company allegedly offered the grieving family ₦100,000—approximately $67—as compensation for Kananfe’s death.

“That was all they gave us,” Avalumun told PREMIUM TIMES.

In January, this reporter visited Mr Kananfe’s father, Mr Tyar, in his village in Tombu, Gaambe-Tiev, barely two months after Mr Kananfe’s death. Grief hung heavily around him, evident in his slumped shoulders and his face lined with deep wrinkles.

Seated at the entrance of his small, thatched hut, Mr Tyar stared blankly at the blood-stained chisel – the same tool Mr Kananfe was holding when the pit collapsed on him. He said his son’s death has plunged him into unimaginable suffering.

“My son was my backbone. He provided for the family and took care of his children. I relied on him for everything. Now that he is gone, I am left struggling to care for his children. The N100,000 compensation they gave us is long gone. Sometimes, his children cry with me, but I am helpless. I would seek justice, but I don’t even know where to start.”

Longriver keeps mum on Ayilamo Tragedy

Despite repeated efforts, the Managing Director of Longriver Mining Nigeria Limited, identified as Mr Lau, did not respond to specific questions regarding his company’s operations in Ayilamo community, the death of Kananfe, and the reported N100,000 compensation offered to the victim’s family. Calls and messages sent to him went unanswered for several weeks.

Mr Lau had earlier told this reporter that he had suspended mining operations in Benue following a state government ban on mining activities in the state.

The rush for mineral wealth in Benue has come at a steep cost, and Mr Kananfe’s death is not an isolated incident. Thirty-five-year-old Sughter Gyase has been working in mines since 2020. “I initially worked as a stone excavator in mining pits before I learned blasting,” he said. “My work was to set some chemicals and light them up for the stones to explode.” The pits, like many others across the region, yield fluorite, lead, zinc, and iron.

On 22 November 2023, Mr Gyase was preparing for a routine blasting operation. “I finished setting up the chemicals and connected the wiring to the battery. I moved a safe distance away and waited, but nothing happened within the stipulated set time. As I was about to approach the site to check if the connection was faulty, I heard a loud explosion. The next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital hours later, unable to see with both eyes.”

Mr Gyase is now a one-eyed man due to the accident.

Before the explosion, Mr Gyase worked with a man named Kenneth, whom he said was working with Chinese miners. Following the accident, Kenneth compensated Mr Gyase with ₦30,000 (about $20).

“He (Kenneth) gave me 30k. My family had to raise nearly ₦1 million to cover my medical bills. After I started recovering, I went to the mining site to speak with Kenneth about my condition, but he ran away,” he said. “He refused to meet with me. Anytime he heard I was around, he would disappear. I got tired and stopped going to the site.”

Life turned upside down

Mr Gyase’s life has not been the same since the accident. “His injuries left him unable to work, and his brain was partially affected,” said his elder brother, James. Farming—his previous means of survival—is now impossible. “I am now unstable. I was supposed to be going to the hospital, but I no longer have money. I now depend on my family for food and clothing.

“Women now avoid me because I am a one-eyed man.” Mr Gyase said.

His wife has since left him. “She left me with three children to take care of. I struggle daily to survive without a livelihood,” he said with his head down.

This reporter attempted to contact Kenneth via phone, but someone else answered. A Truecaller verification revealed that Kenneth had abandoned the number, which the network provider reassigned to a new user. There was no other way to reach him.

Father’s anguish

For Byer Azenyi, a 60-year-old grandfather, the death of his 30-year-old son, Terngu, on 15 November 2021, remains a deep wound that refuses to heal. The pain is even more unbearable because Terngu’s wife had given birth just seven days before he was killed in a mining pit collapse in Anyiin, a local town in Logo Local Government Area of Benue State.

Mr Azenyi recalled the heartbreaking moment he received the call that his son had been trapped. “Before I arrived at the site, they had already taken his body to the mortuary,” he said, his voice laden with grief. “The Chinese mining company gave a man identified as Anicha ₦200,000 and bought a casket for me to bury my son. That was all.”

The loss has upended his life. “I have three children, but Terngu was my right hand. He took care of me, his wife, and his children. Since he died, I have suffered so much. Paying my grandchildren’s school fees and feeding them has been a struggle. We used to farm together, but now I have no one to help me,” he lamented.

Struggle for justice

When asked if he had sought justice, Mr Azenyi shook his head. “Where will I seek justice? I don’t even know who these Chinese people are,” he said. “My son’s death has only brought me suffering. Seeking justice would only add to my troubles. I am just a peasant farmer; I don’t have the power to fight for justice.”

He added that the ongoing farmer-herder crisis had made his situation worse. “If my son were alive, things would have been different. He would have helped me survive these difficult times. But now, I am left to struggle alone.”

Rising tensions

Chinese firms or businesses linked to them are not the only ones culpable for rights violations at Benue’s mining sites. Some wholly-owned Nigerian firms are also culpable.

Peter Penda, a resident of Tse Wan-Nagh in Mbagber Ward, Logo Local Government Area of Benue State, has witnessed firsthand the devastation mining activities have brought to his community.

In September 2024, a miner identified as Salmanu visited Tse Wan-Nagh and told Mr Penda and his family that he had discovered solid minerals on their land. “He told us he would extract the minerals and, in return, build a school, provide potable water, and construct a hospital for us,” he recalled.

According to him, Salmanu brought an agreement and convinced the community leaders to sign. “He said he would make photocopies and give us a copy, but we never saw our copy,” Mr Penda said.

Once mining began, the community sought to reach Salmanu, but he reportedly ignored their calls. “We called him several times, but he never responded. Then, armed bandits stormed our village and forced us out,” Mr Penda narrated.

Despite the community’s displacement, mining operations pressed on. “Over 20 trucks of minerals have been carted away from our land,” he said. “The dug-out pits stretch across two hectares, and nearly four hectares of forest cover have been cleared.”

Mr Penda said the mining activities also destroyed people’s houses in the community. “Our houses have cracked due to the blasts. Our trees have been destroyed. We can’t farm anymore.”

Residents forced out but miners stay

Mr Penda and his family fled after bandits invaded the community and killed several villagers. Yet, some miners remained. “They come and kill some of our family members, but they never harm the miners. While we are driven from our land, the miners continue extracting minerals in the same community,” he said.

He also described how mining operations poisoned local water sources. “Our children kept falling ill. The miners drill water from pits, and it contaminates our streams and rivers. We can no longer drink from them.”

Plea for action

In January, when this reporter visited Mr Penda, he was living with some of his relatives in a cramped, makeshift shelter in Mchia, a small town in Gaambe-Tiev. Displaced from his home, he sleeps on a worn-out mat in a thatched hut with a door made of sacks.

“I strongly believe the killings are connected to the minerals in our land,” he said.

He urged authorities to hold Salmanu accountable for his unfulfilled promises and to address the worsening insecurity. “The government must act. Why can’t we access our land, yet others are mining it? Something is fundamentally wrong.”

Salmanu speaks

This investigation revealed that Salmanu Hussaini, the owner of Salmanu Mining Company – a well-known miner- hails from Akwana, a community in Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State. This reporter interviewed Salmanu to ask about his role in the ongoing mining in Tse-Wan-Nagh.

Salmanu confirmed carrying out mining activities in Mr Penda’s community and also confirmed that he had agreements with residents to provide essential infrastructure.

“I did three agreements with them—the school, the hospital, and water,” he stated. However, he said none of the projects had materialised due to insecurity.

“I attempted to do it, but the state government banned mining activities in Benue. That’s why I couldn’t proceed.”

Salmanu said he has halted operations on his mine, and any mining going on there now is illegal. “Some people are doing illegal mining, but I refused to join them because my company is legal, and I follow government procedures.”

He, however, said he stationed some officials to secure the site. “I made some stores within the community. The men you saw on the ground are there to protect my properties. I have two to three people staying there,” he stated.

He said his company was registered with the federal government but admitted it was not registered with the Benue State Government.

“I didn’t register with the Benue State Government because, at the time I was mining, there was no state agency mandating miners to register,” he claimed.

Checks at the Mining Cadastral Office of Nigeria’s Ministry of Mines and Steel Development confirm that Salmanu Mining Company is duly registered and holds a valid license to operate in the area where the incident occurred.

When asked whether an environmental impact assessment was conducted before mining began, Salmanu claimed he had done one. However, when pressed for details, he struggled to provide specifics.

“I invited people to go there for assessment, but they refused because of insecurity,” he said.

Who benefits from illegal mining in Benue?

The Benue State Government announced a ban on all mining activities on 22 March 2024.

However, despite the ban, mining activities are still ongoing in many parts of the state and the Benue government still profits from it.

Salmanu told this reporter that the Benue State Government collects ₦1 million per truckload of minerals extracted from the Akwana community.

“We are paying Benue State ₦1 million per truck,” he said.

When asked who in the state government received the payments, Salmanu said the money was paid directly into the government’s account. “Before your truck can move, you must pay ₦1 million to the Benue State Government account,” he stated.

Salmanu explained that the Benue government only restricted mining, not the transportation of minerals.

“Two things are happening: the government banned mining, but the same government allows people to move their materials. They said, ‘We banned mining, but if you have materials, you can move them,'” he said with a laugh.

He admitted that this loophole encouraged more illegal mining. “As long as they are collecting ₦1 million per truck, people are mining,” he said.

Government Silent on Findings

Efforts to obtain an official response from the Benue State Government on the findings of this investigation were unsuccessful. Multiple calls to the Commissioner for Information went unanswered, and a visit to his office yielded no result. His secretary, Ogbu Maria, told this reporter that the commissioner was unavailable for comment.

Similarly, the Executive Secretary of the Bureau of Solid Minerals, Stephen Uta, who oversees the state’s mining affairs, declined to respond. Repeated calls to his mobile phone were not answered, and while he read text messages sent to him via WhatsApp, he did not offer any response.

A flawed system?

The Chairman of the Miners Association, Benue State Chapter, John Tersugh, admitted that illegal mining was ongoing in the state but said his members were not involved in any ongoing mining operation.

“If illegal mining is still going on, I am not in a position to talk about it because we, the legal miners, have suspended all mining activities, including my own site,” he said.

When asked about compensation for individuals killed or injured in legally operating mines, as uncovered in this investigation, Mr John said he was unaware of such incidents.

“Honestly, I am not aware of any deaths or injuries resulting from mining operations,” he told PREMIUM TIMES. “But like every other occupation, mining comes with its own hazards.”

Asked about efforts by the Miners Association to ensure its members comply with relevant regulations, Mr Tersugh said:

“Illegal mining has serious implications, even in terms of revenue. The state has lost 13 per cent of its expected revenue due to these activities. Recently, we asked all legal miners to submit their licences to the Bureau of Entrepreneurship and Wealth Creation for documentation.”

This reporting was completed with the support of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development as part of the Centre for Investigative Journalism’s Open Climate Reporting Initiative.