Volcanic Eruption forecasted in Jos, Plateau

Talk about Nigeria battling a natural disaster in the middle of a war against man-made disasters plaguing the country; an irony no one saw coming.

A lecturer from the Department of Geology in the University of Jos, Prof. Uriah Alexander Lar has warned of an impending danger posed by the dormant volcanoes in Plateau State.

Lar said some reported successive minor volcanic activities within the Cameroon were indicators that there stood the possibility of the reactivation of some dormant volcanoes in Jos that could erupt and threaten lives.

He said if erupted, could result in a damage of about 10 to 20-kilometre radius.

The Professor in a call to action on the part of the federal and state governments, asked the relevant authorities to assess the hazard level of some of the volcanoes through careful monitoring in order to better prepare for the disaster.

Lar in his conversation with LEADERSHIP, argued that just because the volcano sites could be dormant, is no guarantee that they could not erupt.

He explained that they had seen in Italy where volcano that was inactive for almost a thousand years had come back to life.

“When you look at the geological time, the last time it erupted was very recent and from studies it is very possible that these volcanoes can roar back to live. Investigation carried out by my team at Pidong volcano lake down to Kerang revealed that there were some activities happening in that Lake where sometimes there was gas coming beneath the earth which showed that there was something down deep that was very active that had not been able to come to the surface yet.

He added, “We have some accumulation of gas, we are afraid just like what happened in Lake Cameroon when it erupted leading to the death of so many animals and humans that prompted them into the research work.”

He described it as an eye opener to them as government’s relevant ministry would be sent to assess the area in view of what recently happened in Kwai, Southern Kaduna.

“We will organize sensitization workshop for community leaders and beyond that, the federal government should also partner with the Plateau State government to make sure that in an event that it erupts, the disaster will be minimal.”

North Central coordinator of the Civil Liberties Organization (CLO), Comrade Steve Aluko, reacting to the information, said volcanic sites are expected to erupt eventually, no matter where they were, it was rather only a matter of time.

“The essence of any government is to proffer solutions whenever there is a problem. Any government that does not proffer solutions becomes part of the problem. Environmental and ecological justice is lacking in all the programs of the government that we have in Nigeria, especially on the Plateau that is more vulnerable to abandoned mining ponds and volcanic eruptions.” Mr. Aluko said, complaining that the government might ultimately not yield to the warnings given them.