In Nigeria, unregulated mining for minerals, metal and rare earths has surged, costing the government over $10 billion annually in lost revenue. But this booming sector also takes a high human toll. Many children are employed, who often work in hazardous conditions.
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00:00this used to be farmland but now it looks like a moonscape
00:06walkers tear up the soil looking for tin it's just beneath the surface at this
00:11unregulated mine we are here with the permission of the
00:15site boss he allows us to film in this direction
00:19but not what's behind us what we can't show you
00:22is a stream polluted by mining waste the miners dig with shovels and their
00:29bare hands risking cuts and falls many are children who spend hours under
00:35the hot sun some tell us that they take drugs to
00:38get through the day the boss keeps a close eye as the camera
00:42rolls we're here to get tin which we take to
00:47the buyers together with my boss
00:52after we collect the money my boss gives me my share
00:57and i take some home to buy food and keep the rest for myself
01:05in the morning i come back here to work
01:10behind me is a dangerous reality and that of unregulated mining in northern
01:16nigeria where we have miners as young as 13
01:19years of age who are risking their health to make
01:22some money the kids make around 10 euros per kilo a day
01:28it's a good wage but it's illegal for them to be working
01:32there's no government oversight on child labor
01:35or official data on accidents at unregulated mines
01:40but recent deaths at mining sites around the country have brought the dangers to
01:44national attention in nigeria poverty is the major factor
01:49that pushes many to take the risk of working in these mines on the western
01:54side of the country we visited another rural town bani where
01:58the lithium business is booming here at the town market lithium from
02:03nearby unregulated mines is sold openly
02:07so they just bring it now so they need to
02:10sort it very well before concluding to these young men help process
02:17sort and prepare the stones for transportation 50 kilos of lithium costs
02:22about 140 euros they sell tons of it here big profits
02:27for those running the operation but the government doesn't see
02:31any revenue it is an industry that's ripe for corruption
02:35this truck driver has a long haul ahead but says he faces little scrutiny on the
02:40road nothing happens to the lithium we're
02:43transporting nobody stops us apart from the police who stop us when we see them
02:47they ask questions and we give them something
02:52environmental journalist daria kogu investigates
02:55unregulated mining he has faced threats for trying to expose the industry's
03:00problems he says the government is being
03:02negligent and that mining in rural areas will have
03:06long-term consequences i believe that the more we talk about
03:09this thing the more the government we also know that
03:12there is something that they are not doing and the more government acts
03:15then the better for the people and for the nation as a whole
03:20we reached out to the mining ministry on findings raised in this report
03:24but did not get a response nigeria's parliament has
03:28recently vowed to eliminate unregulated sites
03:32for a safer and more profitable mining sector
03:35but the reality on the ground tells a different story