Rescuers in Nigeria are searching for dozens of people missing after a boulder crashed onto an illegal mine during heavy rains, killing at least 18 people, local sources told AFP on Saturday.

The rock came crashing down on Thursday on the mine in the northern Zamfara state outside the Kadauri village in the Maru district, they said.

“We have managed to pull out 18 dead bodies from the pit and five other survivors who sustained various degrees of injuries,” Sani Lawwali, a miner who works in unauthorised pits, said from Kadauri.

A dozen other miners were still trapped inside and their fate remained unknown, said Lawwali, who took part in the rescue effort.

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“The process is slow and laborious as we use our bare hands to chisel the end of the boulder to make holes for limited access into the pit,” he said.

Rescuers have asked for a bulldozer being used at a nearby road construction site to be brought in to help, but had not yet received a response from the company using it, Lawwali added.

Abubakar Nabube, a local community leader, confirmed the death toll of 18. He said that 15 of those killed came from the nearby Maikwanugga and Damaga villages.

“If no help comes from emergency agencies soon, none of those trapped would come out alive,” he said.

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Zayyanu Ibrahim, a resident of Kadauri village said the collapse occurred at one of several newly dug sites in the recently established mining site.

“Dozens of miners were working in the pit while it heavily rained outside. A huge boulder at the mouth of the pit collapsed and buried miners inside,” said Ibrahim, who also confirmed the toll.

Sani Abdullahi, a councillor in the area, said it was difficult to say how many people there were in the pit at the time of the accident.

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Officials from the Nigerian emergency agency NEMA did not respond to an AFP enquiry about the accident.

Zamfara, a poor agrarian state, is rich in gold deposits where illegal artisanal mining thrives in the countryside, despite several attempts by authorities to stop the practice.

The authorities have blamed illegal mining for the worsening of bandit violence, with criminal gangs getting money from protection fees they extort from miners.

The Police Command in Cross River has confirmed the abduction of 17 passengers by sea pirates along the Calabar Waterways.

The command’s Deputy Public Relations Officer, DSP Igri Ewa, who made the confirmation on Saturday in Calabar, said that the passengers were abducted on Thursday.

Ewa said that the command had already swung into action to ensure the ‘immediate and prompt’ rescue of the abductees.

According to the police spokesperson, a serving police officer in Akwa Ibom and a popular politician in Cross River who were on board the boat narrowly escaped abduction.

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A passenger who preferred anonymity told newsmen that the boat was attacked a few minutes after take-off from Oron en route Calabar.

“They stopped our boat, transferred some passengers to their boat, and when their boat was full, they took off.

“When we arrived at the Inland Waterways Jetty, we were thoroughly quizzed by the police. Our statements were later taken before we were allowed to go home.”

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons said it rescued a 16-year-old domestic worker after her employer allegedly bathed her with hot water in the Gwarinpa area of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.

NAPTIP, in a statement shared on its Facebook page on Friday, disclosed that the rescue followed a tip-off from the employer’s neighbours.

According to the statement, the 16-year-old, who was employed to care for the employer’s three children, was taken to a hospital by neighbours who witnessed the assault.

The statement read, “The victim, who hails from Imo State and comes from a family of 12, had been caring for her employer’s three children, including two-month-old twins and a seven-year-old boy while the employer worked at night.

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“Reports indicate that the girl was scalded with hot water by her employer.

“Alert neighbours quickly rushed her to a hospital and immediately contacted NAPTIP, prompting a swift rescue operation.”

NAPTIP noted that it has commenced an investigation into the incident, adding that “all individuals involved in this heinous act will face the full weight of the law.”

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This incident is one of several cases of domestic violence involving the use of hot water.

The PUNCH reported in February 2022 that a woman, identified as Ramota Soliu, reportedly killed her husband, Bello Soliu, at a Fulani settlement in the Iyana Ilewo area of Abeokuta-North Local Government Area of Ogun State.

Ramota, a mother of two, had reportedly poured hot water on her husband, which eventually led to his death.

Similarly, in September 2023, a landlord identified simply as Michael allegedly poured hot water on an 11-year-old girl, identified only as Princess, in the Mowe area of Ogun State.