Coalition of non-Governmental Organisations(NGOs), Urban Rural Environmental Defenders (U-RED) and Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) have called on stakeholders to support the federal government’s ministerial committee to investigate the earth tremor in Abuja.
It would be recalled that earth tremor recently occurred in some parts of Abuja.
Consequently, the FCT minister, Mohammed Bello banned rock blasting and other related activities in Abuja.
In a joint statement issued in Abuja and signed by URED Executive Director, Godspower Martins, the NGOs said “about six separate earth tremors occurred at Mpape and Durumi communities, a suburb of Abuja and parts of Bwari Area Council also in Abuja at intervals of 3pm – 4pm, 5pm – 6pm and 8pm – 10pm respectively and three times between 5am – 8am on 7th September, 2018, which left residents apprehensive and running for safety.
The groups said it came two years after another tremor happened at Kwoi, on Saturday 10th and early hours of Monday morning 12th, September 2016 at SambangDagi communities both in Jeba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, North West Nigeria.
According to them, “apart from natural factors, we cannot completely disassociate the reason from indiscriminate rock blasting with crude technologies in and around residential communities by quarry companies over the years in the affected communities and Abuja in general.
“In our facts finding mission to the scene of the incident, UrbanRural Environmental Defenders (U-RED) and Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) team discovered that the two affected communities (Durumi and Mpape) are host to about 11 rock blasting quarry companies out of which, five are presently operational while the others are not.
“Baba Ali Mohammed o, Kirbiru, Tunde and all the residents we had a chat with spoke with one voice that the endless blasting of rocks with crude technologies must be responsible for the earth-shake
