Nigeria: As Survivors Recount Ordeal - How Militants, Poor Mining Pits Are Driving Plateau's Recurring Deaths

JOS -- Plateau State is richly endowed with mineral resources, with mining sites scattered across rural communities where generations have depended on the industry for their livelihoods.

Mining activities in the state are believed to have commenced in 1902, making Plateau one of Nigeria's historic mining frontiers because of its vast deposits of tin and columbite.

But more than a century after mining began, the mineral wealth that promised prosperity is increasingly leaving behind a darker legacy: Abandoned pits, environmental degradation, illegal mining, insecurity and recurring deaths.

For miners operating in poorly regulated sites, danger can come from beneath their feet. It can also come from armed men.

Mining, once regarded as a pathway to wealth and survival, is increasingly becoming a deadly gamble, with fear and agony replacing the promise of income.