Men and children work in the mines outside of Bagega. They dig deep to find the rock and then crush these rocks to extract the gold ore. Inside the rocks are deposits of other metals, including lead, which has poisoned many of the children in the village.
Amina Murtala is only 20, but she has already lost three children to lead poisoning – a deadly consequence of small-scale gold mining in her home state of Zamfara in Nigeria.
Human Rights Watch researched the impact of lead poisoning on communities near Zamfara’s mines, shooting video of the families, teachers, and healthcare workers we interviewed. We created a multimedia report exposing the devastation – the worst lead poisoning epidemic in modern history.
Our objective was to persuade Nigeria’s federal government, which controls funding for lead clean-up, of the situation’s urgency. Together with our partner organizations, we urged the Nigerian government to protect families at risk of lead poisoning. Last week President Goodluck Jonathan agreed to release 650 million Naira (roughly US$4 million) for environmental remediation and to put in place safer mining practices in Zamfara state. This clean-up could give Amina’s newest baby a better chance at a healthy life.
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