Rising lithium demand in Nigeria has led to illegal mining operations exploiting child labour. Children, often from poor backgrounds, work under hazardous conditions in unlicensed mines. Transactions usually lack scrutiny regarding the working conditions. Activists and experts advocate for stronger protections as government reforms aim to tackle child exploitation in mining.
In Nigeria’s Nasarawa state, rising demand for lithium for electric vehicle batteries has fuelled illegal mining operations, leading to child labour exploitation. Many children, often from impoverished backgrounds, work in unsafe, unlicensed mines without any legal protections. The Associated Press uncovered instances of child miners aged under 10 employing primitive methods to extract lithium ore, facing hazardous conditions daily. Transactions generally occur without scrutiny regarding the source or working conditions, predominantly involving Chinese buyers.
The illegal mining sector thrives on informal trade ecosystems, where miners like Aliyu Ibrahim evade regulation through bribes. Despite awareness of child involvement, buyers justify the practice as a means of survival for these children. Activists and experts urge that, given the escalating global lithium demand, urgent measures must be implemented to protect children’s rights. Meanwhile, the Nigerian government plans reforms to curb child labour, including revised legislation and social programmes to incentivise education.
The rapid growth in demand for lithium, used heavily in technology such as electric vehicle batteries, has prompted a surge in mining activities in regions like Nigeria. In Nasarawa, small-scale illegal mining operations have emerged around lithium, often employing children who are unable to attain education due to economic constraints. The illegal nature of these mines leads to dangerous working conditions with little to no oversight from authorities. This raises concerns not only about the children’s health and safety but also about human rights violations linked to global supply chains for lithium.
The AP’s report highlights the troubling intersection of rising lithium demand and child labour in Nigeria’s illegal mining sector. Unscrupulous practices threaten the well-being of hundreds of children, while the Nigerian government’s initiatives to curb these abuses face significant challenges. Activists call for more rigorous enforcement of human rights protections to ensure that the enthusiasm for renewable energy does not come at the expense of vulnerable populations.
Original Source: www.rmoutlook.com