z_Archivio AT LEAST 400 CHILDREN POISONED IN NIGERIAN ILLEGAL MINES Lorenzo Briotti Ottobre 5, 2010 At least 400 children have died in Nigeria due to lead poisoning caused by the illegal work of gold miners. The report was filed by the U.N. which sent a team of experts to the African country in the arid Sahel region in the south of the Sahara.