The Nigerian federal government has said it will revoke the mining licence of a mining company over the deaths of three miners in Niger State’s recent mining site collapse.

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, disclosed this in a statement through his Special Assistant on Media, Segun Tomori, on Saturday in Abuja.

Giving an update on the incident, Alake said the owners of licenced land units mined illegally and would lose their titles.

The minister noted that preliminary investigations indicated that the collapsed mine was in an area under Exploration Licence 43113, granted to Jurassic Mines Limited in Adunu Village, Paikoro Local Government Area, Niger State.

It was noted that the miners were not authorised to conduct mining activities but rather only given an exploration licence, which permits an applicant to confirm the site’s suitability for proposed mineral exploration.

Addressing the ministry’s response, Alake confirmed receiving news of the accident around 4:45 pm on Thursday, where three people died in a gold mining tunnel collapse at the site. He further stated that inquiries revealed the miners were operating illegally.

His statement reads: “The ministry promptly mobilised its mine officers, who arrived at the site around 6:15 pm. Officials were informed that three men were killed in the accident and have since been buried.”

“At the time of the visit, work had stopped at the site, and only onlookers were seen. The coordinates of the site were taken, and officials returned to Minna at about 8:30 pm. The owners of the company were contacted by phone, but they claimed ignorance of happenings on the site. They were then summoned to the office in the state capital.”