VANGUARD
ABAKALIKI— Ordinarily, the large deposits of lead in Enyigba community in Abakaliki Local Government Area and Ameka community in Ezza South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State should be a thing of joy, happiness and a source of wealth to the people.
But from every indication, it is not so because of the side effects of the mineral on the lives of the people.
The presence of the mineral is rather a mixture of blessing and misfortune due to the environmental hazards and degradation that come with it.
The people of Enyigba and Ameka communities, numbering thousands, have been afflicted by lead-related ailments, resulting from eating crops, vegetables, fruits, tubers, and grains; and drinking water contaminated by the mineral deposit.
We don’t have any choice – Residents
In the midst of these health hazards, the residents of the communities said they don’t have a choice but to eat their food and drink the water from their soil, which in most cases is contaminated.
Some of them have suffered strange ailments caused by contaminated foods.
A community leader, Chief Ewa Nworie said the lead deposit prevents crops from growing because of the toxic nature of the soil.
He said water from the rivers and streams around the mining areas is not good for drinking, having been polluted by lead.
“We are not finding it easy to live in this community. Lead pollution is affecting both our health and farm produce. Our water is polluted, we don’t drink it; we resort to well water and borehole which dries up in dry season”, Nworie lamented.
A resident of one of the communities, Mrs. Amauche Nwogha, decried their environment, saying that it is not the best for habitation due to health-related matters of lead. She said that their children suffer various skin infections and other ailments as a result of lead pollution.
“We suffer from lead pollution and poison through the water we drink and dusty environment. Some of us and our children are suffering from one ailment or the other. We don’t have a good hospital to treat us, the one we have is far from us and when you visit the hospital, they refer you to the city to run some medical tests and further treatment.
“We are not only talking about our farms and crops. We are talking about our health first. The government should help us by providing good health facilities here and good pipe-borne water.
“Yes, our land is not fertile because of the lead. We don’t have good yields from our farms. Some of us have farms far from the area, but some of us who don’t have land in any other place, farm here and manage what we have. Our vegetables, tubers of yam, cassava, and other grains are being contaminated by lead”, she complained.
We are neglected by miners
Another resident, Mr. Chike Nweke, complained that the villagers who suffer from lead-related problems, don’t benefit from the royalty being paid by lead miners in the community.
He said that most of the natives, due to ignorance, don’t know that lead causes harm to their health.
“We need serious enlightenment for our people living in the lead mining areas. While some people know that lead causes low yield, others don’t know it is very dangerous to their health.
“We want the government to help us provide farmlands far from mining sites and also compel the lead mining companies to provide basic amenities as provided in the agreement signed with them. This is how it is done everywhere; ours should not be different”, Nweke said.
Effect of lead on humans, crops, by varsity don
Noting the effects of lead mining, a lecturer in the Department of Industrial Chemistry, Ebonyi State University, Prof. Wilberforce Oti, stressed the need for the state government to engage in sensitizing the public, especially people of the affected communities, on the dangers of consuming contaminated farm produce and water from the mining areas.
He said that 90% of crops from the mining areas, including tubers, fruits, and vegetables, have been contaminated by lead.
Prof. Oti explained that the contamination is a result of mining activities in areas like Enyigba, where lead from the mining sites leaches into the soil and is absorbed by the crops.
“According to my research, in areas like Enyigba, about 20% of the people are already affected by lead-related issues because of the answers they gave to our questionnaires.
“Secondly, most of the plants that are coming from these polluted areas, 90% of them are already polluted, because the moment there is lead in the soil, the plants will absorb it”, Prof. Oti explained.
He explained further that while some areas not affected by lead contamination are safer for farming, many crops from the polluted areas are sold outside the region, leading to the spread of contaminated produce.
Prof. Oti noted the serious health risks involved in consuming contaminated crops, particularly for pregnant women, as lead stored in the bones could be transferred to unborn children, potentially causing severe birth defects.
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