The House of Representatives has called for strict compliance with global standards in the area of mining, rock blasting and borehole drilling.
To this end, the House has directed its Committee on Environment to interface with relevant agencies with a view to ascertaining the level of compliance, as well as the monitoring of such activities, especially that they were what experts said may have been the latent cause of the seismic movement.
The resolution came following a motion over recent tremors at different areas of the nation’s capital, Abuja, with the latest experienced around the Maitama District.
Hon. Johnson Oghuma had in the motion under matters of urgent public importance, expressed concern that the tremor, which happened between September and October have created fears of imminent earthquake in Abuja.
Citing a report by the FCT Emergency Management Agency, the lawmaker noted that experts have attributed the seismic movements to likely being “caused by stress in underground rocks resulting from human activities which include blasting and mining of rocks.”
He also cautioned that the National Agency for Space Research and Development (NASRDA), had also reported that communities in four states and Abuja may witness earthquake, if necessary preventive measures are not urgently employed.
The committee is expected to turn in reports of its findings within six weeks.
