The peace in Amankwo, a village in Agbada Inyi town, Oji River Local Council of Enugu State, appears threatened following coal mining activities by ChrisKelv Estate Limited that began last year. The firm commenced mining in the community following an agreement it entered into with the Enugu State government for an initial period of five years.
Already, a life has been lost with the killing of a youth, Chinonso Amaka, attached to the facility. Chinonso, a member of the company’s security team was allegedly gunned down at the site by some men whose identities are yet to be ascertained. The incident was said to have occurred on October 1, last year, when he was on duty.

While the villagers were still worried about the unresolved murder of the young man, wastes from the mining site have reportedly contaminated the Odu River, the only source of drinking water for the people of the area. Residents claimed they woke up recently to discover a change in the colour of the river; a development that reportedly affected the aquatic life of the river, killing the fishes. It was also said to have affected cassava tubers washed by members of the village with water from the river. Some residents of the community claimed that they vomited and purged for several days after eating meals prepared with cassava tubers washed with the water from the contaminated river, while others said some of the produce meant to be sold was wasted.

In fact, one of the women in the village, Mrs. Caroline Udah, narrated in tears how members of her family vomited and purged for several days after consuming cassava washed with water from the river. She also lamented loss of revenue as a result of the contamination of the river.

“I nearly lost all my family and friends that ate the local abacha (cassava flakes) I washed in the stream. After eating the Abacha, everybody fell sick, started vomiting and defecating profusely. It took only the intervention of God because everyone that ate the abacha was weak and could not raise his or her hand up just because coal miners came to our village,” she said.

Another woman, Mrs. Tochukwu Hyginus, allegedly lost over 50 bags of cassava flakes due to the pollution of the water. Weeping as she narrated her ordeal to The Guardian, she stated that each bag of cassava flakes sells for N20,000, adding that they took the entire cassava harvested from the farms to the Odu River to wash but it changed colour the next day and she could neither eat nor sell the produce.

Mrs. Eneh Nkechi said she processed cassava at the river in preparation for the burial of a family member but it changed colour and the family had to buy from the local Nkwo market, which they eventually served at the burial.

Perturbed by the development, which they claimed was now threatening their means of livelihood, members of Amankwo village recently staged a peaceful protest to call the attention of the Chairman of Oji River Local Council, Greg Anyaegbudike, to their plight. Armed with green leaves and placards, some of which read, ‘Our Odu stream not just contaminated but polluted’; ‘Aquatic lives destroyed, dangerous substance polluting Odu River’; among others, they demanded that the mining company should leave or effectively fulfill the agreement reached with the community.

They alleged that the company had reneged on the agreement entered into with the state government, adding that instead of improving the lot of the community, they are destroying infrastructure and making life unbearable for the residents through their mining activities.

A community leader, Polycarp Udah, who spoke on their behalf, stated that the river, which supplies water to 10 hamlets in the area, had never been contaminated, stressing that, “we do not know what the company spilled into the stream that destroyed almost the entire aquatic life.”

Udah, who is a member of the Coal Mining Implementation Committee, stated that he contacted the chairman of the committee immediately the incident was noticed, who convened a meeting, but regretted that the meeting ended up without a solution to the issue.

“If not for private boreholes in this community, it would have been extremely difficult to manage the water problem. Some people walk one to two kilometres to access water from these boreholes. Normally, people will just walk down to the stream to fetch water.

“When we waited and nothing changed, the community decided to come out peacefully and register their complaints. We cannot sit down and die. The road, boreholes and scholarships promised us, none has been implemented. But this water issue has now become a matter of life and death. That is why our people are here today. Even the cassava farms of some women have been affected. Many women depend on cassava farming and sales for their livelihood. The polluted water has poisoned their farms. That is why you see a majority of women here,” he explained.

Udah further stated that the mining company agreed to reconstruct the only road leading into the community from Nkwo market; provide five boreholes for the community; scholarships for the youths; recruit 70 per cent unskilled labour from the community as well as institute a yearly community support in the agreement reached with the community.

“But as we speak, they have treated these issues with disdain. They have not been able to do the road, but rather destroyed it the more using their trucks. They set up one borehole for the landowners, which is not functional due to power. They are supposed to be remitting money quarterly to the community in line with the agreement. The first payment we received was N430,000 for the first batch of trucks of coal. The second payment was for 186 trucks and they paid one million naira leaving some outstanding. Since then, they have not paid again.

“No less than 15 trucks of coal leave this community daily from that site; yet they have not been able to meet their obligations to the community. We use the money to maintain our services,” he stated.

Vice Chairman of the community, Ogochukwu Nnebo, alleged that the community was not carried along in the agreement, stressing that they woke up one morning to see a number of trucks and other heavy-duty machines clearing portions of the community’s land.

“They told us it is a government project and that we should not interfere. They told us they had entered an agreement and that the community would be taken care of. We have been waiting for them; but last week, we discovered that they have poured some chemicals into the river and it polluted the river which is our source of water. So, we are now asking them to stop mining and fulfill their obligations to the community,” he said.

Nnebo alleged the chairman of the Coal Mining Implementation Committee, Dr. Basil Mmaduabuchi, had not adequately protected the interest of the community because, “he is not from this area.”
He stated that the culvert built by the community to provide access from the Nkwo junction had been destroyed by heavy trucks, stressing that, “instead of repairing the damage, they went and used sand to fill the gutter to enable their trucks to pass.

“The implication of this is that when it rains, the gutters will be blocked. Again, they excavated the earth and used it to erect a wall to cover the mining site. This is bad. The stones are already creating problems. When the rains start, the packed sand will start falling and block the road. They are not saying anything about it,” he added.

Addressing the protesters, Anyaegbudike assured them that efforts were on to unravel the cause of the alleged pollution.
He urged the protesting community members to exercise patience with the mining company, stressing that they had already released over N3 million within the week to procure a power generator for the borehole as well as completion of the grading of the road.
Anyaegbudike confirmed that samples of the contaminated water had been taken for further investigation and wondered why the villagers should embark on demonstration, “when the miners are implementing their part of the agreement.” He said he suspected foul play from those “attempting to undermine the state government’s efforts to develop the community.”
Chairman of the Project Implementation Committee, Maduabuchi, stated that the company had continued to fulfill its side of the agreement, stressing that it entered a five-year agreement with the state government on mining and support for the community.

“Amankwo is not the area where mining is going on in the state. In one year, the company has sunk borehole, graded and expanded the road to the community, continued to pay royalty to the community as well as put modalities in place for the commencement of scholarship for her deserving youths this year. The problem is that the people are in a hurry. They went and started blocking the road to collect toll from the trucks. When they felt it could not work, they went and destroyed the only culvert that created access to the community. They destroyed the place in the night because they did not want the miners to move coal by trucks any longer,” he alleged.

Maduabuchi, a priest in one of the Pentecostal churches, said it was unfair to accuse his committee of refusing to work with the community, stressing that every financial transaction so far had been made through accounts provided by the community. He also lamented the involvement of a member of the Implementation Committee in the protest, stressing that, “it was unfair for him to have done so after participating in a meeting where certain resolutions and actions were taken.”

“I expected him to return to the community with the truth about what the company is doing,” he added.

Traditional ruler of Agbada Inyi Autonomous Community, HRH Igwe Ignatius Okpara, called for peace, insisting that the company had acted in line with the agreement entered into with the state government.

“I think they want to make money from the company. Does the company owe anyone? We don’t have issues with the company or Enugu State government according to what is in the agreement. There are few elements in the community that want to cause problems, but we won’t allow them.

“I think that if there is an issue concerning anyone in that community, I should be the first person to report to. In this instance, I am yet to be told what the problems are. I am hearing that their fishes were killed, but I have yet to see it,” he stated.

A senior official of the mining company who spoke on the condition of anonymity stated that they had continued to touch on the various agreements reached with the community, stressing that they released some money a day to the protest to procure a power generator for the borehole as well as complete ongoing rehabilitation of roads.
“We have also continued to pay royalties in line with the agreement. If they say we contaminated their water, a sample of the water has been collected for testing. We will like to wait for the result. But as I said, we don’t have problems with the community,” the source said.