Two young brothers, Umar Muhammad (7) and Ibrahim Muhammad (9), have tragically drowned in a water-filled, disused mining excavation in the Udege Mbeki community, located in Nasarawa Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
The fatal incident occurred on Thursday at an abandoned site formerly operated by Kenyang Mining Company Limited, a Chinese firm. The pit, commonly known among locals as a “paddock,” had filled with rainwater following heavy downpours, creating a hidden hazard.
According to Dauda Kana, Chairman of Afo Youth Mobility, the boys had accompanied their cousin to the site to wash clothes when they accidentally fell into the waterlogged pit and drowned.
Kana expressed deep grief over the tragedy, accusing the mining company of negligence and failing to reclaim the 50-metre buffer zone around the excavation site—years after operations had ceased. He asserted that the firm’s inaction directly contributed to the unsafe conditions that led to the children’s untimely deaths.
He recalled that Afo Youth Mobilityofficially registered as Afo Youth Mentorship Initiative—alongside nine other community stakeholders, had previously taken legal action against Kenyang Mining Company at the Nasarawa State High Court in Keffi. The lawsuit sought judicial clarification of the Community Development Agreement (CDA) signed between the Udege community and the mining company on 26 September 2021.
Justice Rose G. Soji, who presided over the case, granted an interim injunction on 19 November 2024, suspending all further mining activity and preventing any harassment of the community pending the court’s decision. This legal standoff was eventually resolved through an out-of-court settlement, resulting in a consent judgement delivered on 4 March 2025.
The judgement included several binding commitments, such as:
Submission of a detailed reclamation plan within one year of any further excavation;
Immediate commencement of reclamation activities following regulatory approval;
Termination of all mining activity in the Millionaire’s Quarters area within four years;
Construction of a concrete perimeter fence separating residential and mining zones, with a 40-metre buffer;
Repair of the Udege Mbeki–Gada Hudu road and provision of essential amenities such as boreholes, electricity, a hospital, a school, and a police post at the designated relocation site.
Kana lamented that the optimism that followed the consent judgement had now been overtaken by sorrow, urging Kenyang Mining Company to begin immediate reclamation of the abandoned pits to prevent further tragedies.
He warned that if the company fails to comply with the terms of the agreement, Afo Youth Mobility will not hesitate to return to court to enforce the judgement.
Kana also appealed to the Nasarawa State Government to strengthen regulatory oversight and ensure strict adherence to the provisions of the Mining Act, insisting that mining firms must be held accountable for the safety and welfare of host communities.
The bodies of Umar and Ibrahim have since been laid to rest in accordance with Islamic rites in their native Udege Mbeki, an Afo-speaking settlement still mourning the devastating loss.
