TheCable at 7 Impact Stories Series (1): How a polluting Chinese company was brought to justice

Seven, they say, is the number of perfection. At TheCable, our seventh anniversary offers a unique opportunity to celebrate our strive towards perfection and excellence in the media space.

For these seven years since April 29, 2014, we’ve published under-reported and impact-driven stories, broken excellent stories, explored innovative ideas and covered new grounds that were scarcely highlighted in the industry.

Like the favourite hymnal, this is our story, this our song. We will be highlighting seven of our special stories that have made huge impact, driven change and sparked public discourse in Nigeria.

CHINESE MINERS ENDANGERING FCT RESIDENTS, FG TAKES ACTION

Hongao Mining Company Limited, a Chinese company that had been carrying out mining operations in a remote part of Abuja, was exposed for polluting the water source in the area. What’s more? The company was mining gold without a licence — all of this with protection from police officers who had threatened to shoot protesting villagers. The polluted stream is the only water source for at least six communities in the area where the villagers are mostly farmers. A laboratory test confirmed there is a high deposit of lead and mercury in the water and soil polluted.