In May 2024, the Nasarawa State Government, Aerthmetal, and Boxmoor signed a tripartite agreement to establish Uke Gold Company. The Abdullahi Sule-led administration said that the company would boost revenue and create jobs.
Since then, residents say both licensed and unlicensed miners have invaded the district. According to locals, the miners, many of them non-natives and nationals from other West African countries, operate with heavy arms. They also threaten community members who resist their activities.
“Most of us live in fear of the known. We already know what is happening in Awe (another town in Nasarawa) because of lithium mining. We don’t want bandits and other criminal elements to relocate to our community and displace us,” Abdullahi Saleh, a resident of Uke, said.
“It is unfortunate that our young girls have abandoned their parents to go after these miners who use them as sex toys for money. Every young girl is using what she has to impress her friends with iPhone, “ Jane Aboki, who lived in Uke, also voiced out.
Residents also expressed concern about young girls being lured into miners’ camps with cash and mobile phones. Children as young as 10 were seen working in dangerous pits.
Researchers warned that mining in Uke must be managed with strict safeguards. They also urged the state to enforce licenses that prohibit armed intimidation and exploitation. Safe spaces and livelihood programs for women and girls must be established. They stressed that mining must link environmental resilience with gender safety.
Struggle at the Crossroads of Climate and Health
At dawn in Uke, a small town in Nasarawa state North-central Nigeria, the air is already heavy with metallic tang of dust. Often, trucks rumble past narrow roads. They carry tonnes of ore at a time from underground shafts where workers have spent the night blasting rock in darkness. Most days, hammer-ready women and children, crouched over bags of stone. They break them apart with a heavy price on their health.
Uke has always been tied to gold. The Nigerian Geological Survey Agency says the deposits here lie in quartz veins within the Basement Complex rocks. Over the years, mining grew from small, informal practices into something much bigger. Thousands of miners now work here. Investors even come from neighboring countries like Burkina Faso. On a good day, about 4,000 artisanal miners recover between 20 and 30 ounces of gold.
But the process for these miners is perilous. Ore is crushed manually, often by women and children, before being sluiced and amalgamated with mercury. EcoPivot learnt that young boys are frequently tasked with burning amalgam. They inhale mercury vapor without protection.
Scientific studies also confirm the danger. Chronic mercury intoxication symptoms such as tremors and coordination problems have been found in artisanal miners across the Philippines, Mongolia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Indonesia. According to Nafisat Omojola, a Lagos-based climate expert and geologist who spoke to EcoPivot, mercury vapor is absorbed through the lungs, and when that happens, 80% is retained in the body. Sometimes, it can cross the blood–brain barrier, damaging the nervous system.
For the 4,000 miners in Uke, the health risk is brushed over for survival. The economics compound the risk. Mercury is sold openly in Uke at 12,000 naira per 10 mL. Tailings are bought cheaply by investors from Burkina Faso, according to Nnamdi Anene, a researcher on gold mining in Uke. Gold doré sells locally at $50 per gram, below the international price of $62.7 per gram. Anene wrote that many miners, unaware of the hidden value in tailings, trade away potential wealth for immediate survival.
According to Nigeria’s National Action Plan (2021) submitted to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), artisanal gold mines in seven states produce 17 tonnes of gold annually. The process releases 20 tonnes of mercury into the environment.
The US Geological Survey reported Nigeria’s official gold production in 2019 as just 160 kg. Estimates of artisanal miners vary widely, from 260,000 (UNEP) to over 2 million (Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, 2024).
The consequences have been nothing short of tragic. In Zamfara State (2010) and Niger State (2015), lead poisoning linked to artisanal mining killed more than 400 children. Mercury use within households was identified as another looming public health risk.
Experts stress that solutions must go beyond temporary interventions. Omojola told EcoPivot that effective health assessments require control groups: “It also requires lifestyle analysis and returning results to the miners themselves.”
The US Environmental Law Institute has emphasized the need to build capacity within Nigeria’s ASM regulatory department. This includes training officers in alternative mining technologies.
Experts like Omojola cautioned that technology alone is insufficient: “As noted by many researchers, miners often revert to polluting methods when faced with challenges.” Sustainable change requires engaging miners directly, understanding their perceptions, and aligning cleaner practices with their economic realities, Omojola told EcoPivot.
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