The Federal Government’s orientation agency has described the mining explosion that claimed over 35 lives in Plateau State as a tragedy that should never have happened, insisting that strict adherence to safety regulations could have averted the catastrophe.
Reacting to the incident at Kanpani Zurak in Wase Local Government Area, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) said recurring disasters in the mining sector point to dangerous non-compliance and weak enforcement of established standards.
In a statement released Monday in Abuja and made available to ENigeria Newspaper, the agency’s Director-General, Lanre Issa-Onilu, said the scale of the fatalities reflects a deeper problem of disregard for safety protocols and the persistence of unauthorised mining operations.
He stressed that modern societies cannot afford to treat occupational safety as optional, particularly in high-risk sectors such as mining.
According to him, illegal excavation and the use of substandard safety measures continue to expose workers and surrounding communities to needless danger, often culminating in deadly explosions and fires like the one reported in Wase.
Issa-Onilu maintained that repeated mass-casualty incidents in mining communities are avoidable when operators comply fully with regulatory frameworks. He warned that the human and national costs of negligence far outweigh any short-term economic gains derived from unsafe practices.
“We mourn the loss of our compatriots in the mining community and extend our deepest condolences to the grieving families. We stand in solidarity with them, with the state, and with Nigeria as a whole,” he said.
Beyond condolences, the agency urged regulators and industry stakeholders to tighten oversight by conducting routine inspections, strengthening site monitoring systems, and taking firm action against illegal operators.
It further emphasized that without decisive enforcement, similar disasters could recur, prolonging cycles of grief and national trauma.
