NATIONAL Record’s two-part report entitled: “Dangote, In Quest for Cheap Energy, Pumps Poison Into Benue River” has emerged winners of the [online] category of the 2025 Africa Media Development Foundation (AMDF) Award.
The report also went ahead to clinch the 2025 AMDF Journalist of the Year Award. The jury, in choosing the author of the report stated: “From the foregoing, Adedokun Theophilus, you have demonstrated your professional skills in unearthing the questionable operations of the mining company [Dangote Coal Mines Ltd.] and therefore named the 2025 AMDF Journalist of the Year.”
Earlier in October 2025, the report had won the Extractive Industry category of the 2025 West Africa Media Excellence Conference and Awards.
About the Investigation
The investigative report was prompted by concerns over the harmful environmental and social impacts of the exploration of coal by the Dangote Group through one of its subsidiaries, Dangote Coal Mines Ltd. in Effeche and Abache communities in Ugbokolo Ward of Okpokwu LGA of Benue State, North-Central Nigeria.
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The report revealed that the coal exploration severely seriously contaminated key water sources which have their sources from the Odoba Hills of the host communities posing significant health risks to residents who depend on these water bodies for daily use, spanning several settlements downstream, up to Ohimini and Otukpo LGAs.
Further inquiries by the reporter revealed that Dangote Coal Mines Ltd had been mining without an approved Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), a clear violation of regulatory requirements.
This lack of compliance contributed to widespread distrust among community members, fuelling intra-communal conflicts and, in some cases, leading to violence and loss of life.
The reporter also discovered that the company failed to honour its Community Development Agreement (CDA), thereby deepening grievances and resentment among the affected populations.
The investigation equally uncovered evidence that Dangote Coal Mines Ltd. used provisions from Ghana’s mining law to manipulate and defraud community members, in collaboration with certain officials in the Benue State Ministry of Lands.
To substantiate the incidence of pollusion, laboratory assessments were conducted to measure the extent of toxic contamination in the impacted water sources, Rivers Okollo, Umabe and Okpokwu.
Despite prevailing insecurity, hostility, and ongoing communal clashes, the reporter visited all affected communities and engaged with the various warring parties, supported with pictures to gather first-hand information and ensure balanced reporting.
With the documentary evidence, including the certificate of analysis, the Ghana mining law through which the farmers were swindled, and proof of violations of statutory laws and disregard for global environmental practices and mining regulations, the reporter not only exposed the unwholesome activities of the Dangote subsidiary but also challenged the regulatory agencies and the Benue State Government that seemingly looked away.
1 Comment
God will keep on blessing and rewarding National Record and its team for the courage to standout and complete the investigation. They actually deserved the awards for their resilience against all forms of powerful forces bent on making them to give up reporting the illegal Mining by Dangote Industries Limited. The awards are a shame to all the affected journalists and well-known investigative centres and Newspapers which were contacted for the investigative report on the illegal Mining by the Dangote Industries through Dangote Coal Mines Limited but for reason(s) best know to them, refused to publish their findings.