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Lawmakers Seek Solutions to Tremors in Abuja, Call for Best Practice in Rock Blasting

Lawmakers Seek Solutions to Tremors in Abuja, Call for Best Practice in Rock Blasting


Following the persistent earth tremor experienced by residents of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, the House of Representatives at its plenary session on Wednesday, November 7, 2018 mandated its Committee on Environment to interface with relevant Ministries, Departments Agencies (MDAs) to urgently ascertain the level of monitoring and compliance with world global standards in blasting, mining and borehole drilling. The Chamber further mandated same committee to present its findings within six weeks for further legislative action.

The directive came on the heels of a motion which came under matters of urgent national importance moved by Hon. Johnson Oghuma titled the “urgent need to forestall impending earthquakes in Nigeria.” He raised concern over cases of earth tremor experienced in September and October in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) around Mpape and Maitama areas, raising fears of imminent earthquake. He informed that earth tremor is a form of seismic movement within the earth which occurs at small scale but can lead to earthquakes if preventive measures are not taken to reduce the stress.

“The reports by Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) indicates that the incidence was likely caused by stress in underground rocks resulting from human activities which include blasting and mining of rocks.
“The National Space Research and Development Agency had reported that communities in four states and Abuja might experience earthquakes if necessary preventive and monitoring mechanisms are not employed immediately,” he said.

Contributing to the motion, Hon. Johnson Agbonayinma cautioned that the issue of the tremor was important and should be taken seriously. He expressed worry that at the moment there is no concerted effort on ground on how to prevent, monitor or manage such occurrences. The lawmaker implored the relevant government agencies to rise to the occasion to prevent natural disaster from happening.

Also in his contribution to the motion, Hon. Abiante Awaji-Inombek averred that for tremor to happen in Abuja, it showed that something was happening to the management of our environment. Insisting that the mere suspicion that the tremors might be as a result of mining activities should not be over looked. "There must be an holistic approach to this issue" he warned.

The motion got a unanimous nod of members when it was put to a voice vote by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara.

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