Samuel Bello, Abuja

The Federal Government has revealed reasons why it ordered the suspension of blasting and mining activities around areas that experienced minor earth tremor, last week.

Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Abubakar Bwari, while updating Nigerians on what could have triggered the tremor, said the suspension was ordered to enable the team of experts put together by the ministry investigate the incidence coupled with a thorough job.

According to him, getting to the roots of the cause of what triggered the tremor would be better achieved without blasting activities around the affected areas.

His words, “Even though l would not say the tremor experienced may have to do with excavations around the affected areas until investigations are completed remembering that two years ago there was an incidence like that in Kwoi, in Southern Kaduna.

“It is better to suspend all mining and blasting activities around affected areas until investigations by experts ascertain its cause.

“They have taken samples to aid their job and there was a need by the government to stop all excavation and mining activities to enable them do a good job.”

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Bwari added that considering that the world is experiencing climate change, some of the unusual incidents could be natural occurrences not envisaged.

He, however, said the government had proactively acquired some geo-scientific detecting equipment to detect such happenings and was in the process of installing them when the Abuja incidence occurred.

“As a government we had proactively acquired some geo-scientific equipment to help detect some of these unsuspecting natural occurrences so as to help us in detecting the incidents before happening and was in the process of installing when the tremor happened in Abuja.

“The good news is that Nigeria geographically is not on the lane of earthquakes but we are not relenting since the world over considering climate change things are sometimes happening where they ought not to.”

The minister reiterated that Nigerians should not panic or be scared, saying “Luckily, we have not gotten to the trend where mining would be seen as dangerous in Nigeria.

“We are not located in such dangerous zone. Our men went to the affected areas and checked but no quakes or cracks were found,” he concluded.