Stay Away From Our Land, Kebbi Communities Warn Mining Company
There is palpable tension in some communities under Ngaski Local Government Area of Kebbi State over alleged plans by a mining company, El-Tahdam Exploration Limited, to forcefully begin mining activities in the area.
Traditional rulers of the communities involved have written to the company, which is based in Abuja, to stay away from their land in order to avoid causing fresh security challenges for the government.
The communities involved include Warra, Libata, Kabirba and Kwanga communities whose traditional and religious leaders signed the letter.
In the letter to the company dated April 24 and signed by traditional rulers of the communities, copies of which were sent to the Ministry of Solid Mineral Development, the National Security Adviser and the Inspector General of Police, among others, the communities alleged that El-Tahdam Exploration Limited is trying to force itself on them in contravention of the Nigeria and Mining Act and Nigeria Minerals and Mining Regulations which required the consent of the host communities.
The letter also claimed that El-Tahdam fraudulently acquired a Community Development Agreement purportedly signed on behalf of the communities by some persons not authorised to do so.
It stated further that the persons involved have allegedly disowned the agreement with El-Tahdam Exploration Company, claiming they never signed any agreement.
The letter entitled Notice of Demand to El-Tahdam Exploration Limited, reads,
“We have been dismayed by the sad development that your company, ELTAHDAM Exploration Limited, was purportedly granted an Exploration Licence No. 45689 EL and Mining Lease No. 62680 ML over areas of land in respect of which, the land owners had already given their consent to Three Crown Mines Limited and over which Three Crown Mines Limited had already been granted exploration Licence No. 45158 EL since the 8th day of June, 2023.
‘We wish to categorically note and humbly but firmly emphasise that we neither know your company nor welcome it to our community. Ultimately, we are not ready and willing to deal or relate with it as far as the land in respect of which the company was purportedly granted the Exploration Licence and Mining Lease is concerned. You know very well that we did not and never gave the said company, Eltahdam Exploration Limited, our consent for the said
exploration licence no. 45689 EL and mining lease no. 62680 ML or any other licence or lease at all!”
The letter, dated April 24, stated that the communities’ consent which the company claimed to have obtained from a former secretary of the District Head of Maginga, named Murtala Musa, and on which basis it claimed to have been awarded an exploration and mining licence, had been disclaimed in letters delivered to the Mining Cadastre office in Abuja.
The letter said the only company the communities recognized and accepted to carry out exploration and mining on their land is Three Crown Mines Limited with which it had already signed a Community Development Agreement since 2023 in according with the mining laws and regulations.
The communities noted that Three Crowns Mine Limited had since commenced the implementation of the development agreement, stressing that what El-Tahdam has is a “fictitious community development agreement” since the communities had never had any discussions with El-Tahdam on the subject matter.
“Furthermore, it may interest you to know that your attempts to, by all means, force your way onto our lands has unsettled the host community, causing avoidable pandemonium, unrest, and trauma. Your company’s unholy determination to trespass upon our lands and force your company on us, have equally interfered and interrupted the flow of social and economic benefits due to the community from Three Crown’s mining activities. All these and more, are indications that your company and the land owners cum the host community cannot co-exist peacefully.
“In view of the above and more, we cannot, therefore, in good conscience, co-operate and relate with El Tahdam company over areas of land in respect of which the land owners have already been compensated and legitimately taken (and still taking) benefits from another company (Three Crown Mines Limited) which had earlier been granted EL and SSML over the area, and which still subsist; and over which area the said Three Crown Mines Limited has applied for grant of Mining Leases,” the letter stated.
The communities further warned that “the host community has been living in peace and co-existing with all other persons who live and carry out businesses in the Host Community. This rather unfortunate development of granting your company EL and ML over the said area of land which the community had already given to Three Crown Mines Limited, is a recipe for crisis in the community, as evident in the past activities of the company.
“With all sense of seriousness, we cannot and we will not allow a company which was foisted on the community by what seem to be a deliberate wrongful grant of an EL and ML over a land in respect of which consent was not given, to have access to the said land and continue to ferment trouble in our peaceful community.”
The secretary to the district head of Maginga and one the signatories to the letter, Abdulahi Usman, told our correspondent that efforts to dialogue with the company have been fruitless as it allegedly refused to attend any of the meetings called by stakeholders of the communities.
“All stakeholders have invited El-Tahdam for meeting but they never showed up,” he told THE WHISTLER on Sunday, saying the activities of El-Tahdam is a threat to peace in their communities.
Usman was among the delegation from Kebbi who came to Abuja last week to deliver copies of their letter to the Mining Cadastre office in Abuja and the Ministry of Solid Mineral Development, among others.
Efforts by THE WHISTLER to get the reaction of El-Tahdam did not succeed.
The company, registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission on January 25, 2022, has only two directors, namely Adamu Tah and Nuhu Abdulhakim.
Tah refused to pick up his calls and failed to respond to text messages sent to him by THE WHISTLER.
Stay Away From Our Land, Kebbi Communities Warn Mining Company is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
