The Senate on Wednesday called for stricter safety regulations in Nigeria’s mining sector following a landslide at a coal mining site in Kogi State that claimed 20 lives.
The resolution followed a motion sponsored by the senator representing Kogi East, Isah Jibrin, during plenary.
The lawmakers also observed a minute’s silence in honour of the victims of the mining disaster.
Leading the debate, Jibrin said unsafe coal mining activities in Ankpa Local Government Area and other coal-bearing communities in Kogi had become a major safety, environmental and humanitarian concern.
He noted that coal mining remained an important economic activity in Enjema, Okaba and Ikah communities in Ankpa LGA, as well as parts of Omala and Olamaboro LGAs, which make up the Ankpa coal block in the Anambra Basin.
According to him, the geological composition of the area makes it highly susceptible to subsidence, landslides and ground failure, particularly under heavy mechanical loading.
He said, “On or about 14th July, 2026, a significant ground failure and landslide occurred in Alufele in Enjema District within the Ankpa coal mining area, trapping artisanal and small-scale miners underground while several trucks reportedly sank into mining pits during loading operations, leading to the death of 20 workers, and injuries to several others, thereby exposing the extremely hazardous conditions under which mining activities are presently conducted,” he said.
Jibrin said the widespread use of the room-and-pillar mining system without adequate structural reinforcement had substantially increased the risk of mine roof collapses, cave-ins and fatal accidents.
He added that many miners worked under informal arrangements without written employment contracts, health insurance, life insurance or occupational hazard insurance, leaving victims and their families without financial protection whenever accidents occurred.
“The continued occurrence of mine collapses, landslides and related accidents not only threatens human lives but also poses serious environmental, economic and public safety concerns requiring urgent legislative and executive intervention,” Jibrin said.
He added that compulsory workers’ compensation and occupational health protection schemes had become standard practice in leading mining jurisdictions and should be adopted in Nigeria.
“Unless immediate corrective measures are implemented, the unstable geological conditions and unsafe mining practices in the Ankpa Coal Block may result in recurring mine collapses, multiple fatalities, extensive environmental degradation and destruction of valuable mining assets,” he said.
Seconding the motion, the Senate Chief Whip and senator representing Borno North, Tahir Monguno, described fatal mining accidents as a recurring challenge across mining communities in the country.
“The issue of mining collapse has become a recurring decimal with the attendant and concomitant effects of deaths, injuries and what have you to miners across the nook and crannies of the country in mining communities,” Monguno said.
“The only panacea to this ugly scenario is to come up with laws and regulations guiding mining practice in Nigeria.
“As it is now, I am in support of the motion, but I will advise my colleague, Senator Isah Jibrin Echocho, and other senators who have mining communities in their senatorial districts, to come up with robust laws and regulations and present them in the form of a bill, so that the senate, being the legislative arm of government, will now pass them into law, rather than moving them as a motion, which is persuasive and doesn’t have coercive powers.”
Following the debate, the Senate urged the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, particularly its Department of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining, to conduct a nationwide audit of licensed miners and their operations to strengthen monitoring and regulation.
The lawmakers also called on the Federal Government to establish a statutory mining workers’ compensation scheme funded through mandatory contributions by licensed mining operators to cover occupational injuries, permanent disabilities, occupational diseases and deaths arising from mining activities.
The Senate directed its Committee on Solid Minerals Development to prepare legislation establishing the proposed compensation scheme.
The upper chamber further urged the National Insurance Commission, in collaboration with the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, to develop compulsory occupational accident insurance for all categories of miners, including artisanal and small-scale miners operating under recognised mining cooperatives or community mining arrangements.
Lawmakers also called for the establishment of a mine rehabilitation and victims support fund to provide emergency medical treatment, rehabilitation, compensation, educational support for children of deceased miners and livelihood assistance to affected families.
The Senate mandated its Committees on Solid Minerals Development, Environment, Labour, Employment and Productivity, and Health to engage relevant ministries, departments and agencies on the implementation of the resolutions and report back within six weeks.
