By Ayodele Oni
Residents of Mercy Land community, at Oba Ile, Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo state have protested against the activities of a mining company in the area.
The people during a protest to the company site on Monday claimed that continuous stone blasting by the company is causing damage to their buildings and threat to their lives.
Report stated that properties worth millions of naira have been destroyed without compensation from either the miners or Government, considering the high cost of materials and economic state of the Nation.
Some residents of the community described the activities of the miners as destructive, ungodly, unhealthy, and threat to life, which must, as a matter of urgency, be stopped.
According to One of the Residents, John Ayo Oladapo, “we are here this morning to call on all important personalities and particularly the Ondo state Government to come to our aid.
“We are facing huge amount of challenges as a result of the blast from the construction company, houses have been pulled down, several of our houses now have holes, as a result of their blast.
“On countless numbers of time, stones land on our houses rooftops, people have been wounded on many instances, the company is aware of this level of destruction, but nothing has been done to this effect.
“We have written to Ministry of mines, the area commander of police and up till now, there is no tangible result, we are calling on Ondo State Government to come to our aid to safe our lives and properties.”
Another resident, Olorunyomi Oluwaseun, emphasized on the need for Government intervention.
According to him, “we are at the mining and ceramic Industry, as a result of the damages caused via their blasting, our life is in danger.
“For instance, on the first of April 2020, a blast was made here and demolished the frontage of my house, reports was made, necessary offices were contacted but to no avail.
“We are calling Government to come and help us, the damages is getting too much to bear, there is inflation everywhere, a bag of cement now cost above N10,000 and roofing sheet has increased dramatically.”
The Secretary of the community, Mr Adebayo Majeek, explained that the residents are showing their grievance on the damages caused on the houses by the company.
“A lot of inventories had happened as a result of their blast, many houses had been damaged while some have collapsed as a result of the stone blasting.
“We have informed them on several times but nothing has been done, sometimes ago they promised us that henceforth, their blast will not be as massive again to the extent of affecting property.
“All these are untrue, we are however calling on the Government to safe our lives and property, we can no longer sleep with our two eyes closed, we as a people and community seriously need Government Intervention.”
