Two young brothers, Umar Muhammad (7) and Ibrahim Muhammad (9), have drowned in an abandoned mining site in Udege Mbeki community, Nasarawa Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
The incident happened on Thursday at a water-filled pit left behind by Kenyang Mining Company Limited, a Chinese mining firm.
According to reports, the pit—often called a paddock—was filled with rainwater, turning it into a dangerous trap.
Chairman of Afo Youth Mobility, Dauda Kana, said the boys followed their cousin who went to the site to wash clothes.
Kana blamed the company for not reclaiming the land after years of excavation.
“The company’s failure to fill up the paddock led to this tragedy,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
He added that his group and nine others had taken Kenyang Mining Company to court over the issue.
They wanted the court to interpret the Community Development Agreement (CDA) signed in 2021 between the Udege community and the company.
Justice Rose G. Soji of the Nasarawa State High Court in Keffi granted an interim order on November 19, 2024, stopping the company from further mining until the case was settled.
The case was later resolved out of court, and on March 4, 2025, the court gave a consent judgment with clear conditions.
Some of the key terms included:
- A full plan to reclaim the 50-meter setback area within one year.
- Reclamation work to begin immediately after getting approval.
- Stopping work in Millionaire’s Quarters in four years.
- Building a concrete fence to separate mining and residential areas.
- Providing roads, boreholes, electricity, a hospital, school, and police post at the relocation site.
“Sadly, the joy of that court judgment has now turned into sorrow,” Kana said.
He warned that if the company continues to ignore the agreement, Afo Youth Mobility will go back to court.
Kana also urged the Nasarawa State Government to take its oversight duties seriously and make sure mining companies follow the law.
The two children have been buried according to Islamic rites in Udege Mbeki, an Afo-speaking area.
