Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has offered to support the education of Yusuf Aliyu, a teenage artisanal miner in Niger State whose account of the deaths of 37 miners in Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps custody has gone viral.
Atiku, the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, said on Sunday that his “heart breaks” whenever he watches the teenager’s video, arguing that Aliyu’s intelligence and confidence should be nurtured in a classroom rather than at a mining site.
“I have watched Yusuf Aliyu’s video repeatedly, and each time, my heart breaks. A child with such intelligence, clarity and confidence should be in a classroom building his future—not struggling for survival in a community surrounded by gold but buried in poverty.
“I cannot look at him and see an ‘illegal miner.’ I see a Nigerian child failed by the country that should have protected him. I see brilliance trapped by poverty and enormous promise abandoned by leadership,” Atiku said in a statement posted on his X handle.
The former vice president also appealed for the teenager’s safety, warning that his public comments should not expose him or his family to intimidation or retaliation.
“I appeal specifically for his safety. His courage must not expose him or his family to intimidation or retaliation. I am prepared to support his education and ensure that the brilliance we have witnessed is not buried by poverty,” he said.
“Any effort to reach him must be handled responsibly through his family and appropriate child-protection channels.”
Aliyu, who spoke to News Central Television in a video that has circulated widely online, alleged that personnel of the NSCDC had shot at miners at a gold mining site in Niger State.
He also disputed the Corps’ initial explanation that the deaths of suspected illegal miners in its custody were linked to a disease outbreak.
“We are under 18, and we are not allowed to be taken inside a cell. Heat cannot kill a gold miner.
“We are not into illegal mining. The Niger State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps don’t have the right to shoot at us.
“We are not illiterate. We are educated. We do this to help our parents in one or two. Our parents are very poor. We are the ones feeding our parents. It is what we do here that we can pay our school fees,” the teenager said.
Atiku said Aliyu’s account had raised broader questions about poverty and the management of Nigeria’s mineral resources, particularly how communities rich in gold could remain impoverished.
“But this video raises a question that should trouble the conscience of every Nigerian: how can a community sitting upon gold remain so poor that it cannot educate its children? How can its wealth leave the soil while hunger and deprivation remain in its homes?” he said.
Atiku described the situation as an “indictment” of the Tinubu administration, arguing that the Federal Government controls the country’s mineral resources while mining communities continue to face a lack of schools, opportunities and protection.
He also criticised the administration’s handling of artisanal miners, contrasting it with the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative established under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The contrast is revealing. President Buhari established PAGMI to register, train and integrate artisanal miners into the formal economy, with Niger State included among its intervention states. Tinubu inherited that framework but has met these vulnerable citizens with raids, detention and the label ‘illegal miners.’
“Buhari saw people to formalise. Tinubu sees poor people to criminalise,” Atiku said.
He further described Aliyu as evidence of what he called the Federal Government’s failure to provide opportunities for children in mining communities.
“This boy is evidence against the Tinubu government. His intelligence exposes the opportunities it has failed to provide. His poverty exposes the injustice of Nigeria’s mining economy. His presence at that site exposes an administration that has left brilliant children without a ladder out of deprivation,” he said.
Atiku called on the Federal Government to explain the status of PAGMI in Niger State and the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the 37 suspected illegal miners in NSCDC custody.
“The government must explain what became of PAGMI in Niger State and how 37 Nigerians died in the custody of a federal agency. Calling them ‘illegal miners’ cannot erase their humanity or excuse their deaths.”
The miners died after suspected illegal miners were arrested during NSCDC operations in the M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto areas of Niger State on September 15 and 16.
The NSCDC initially attributed the deaths to a suspected disease outbreak, while survivors alleged that overcrowding, poor ventilation, heat and dehydration contributed to the deaths.
The cause of death has not been established.
The Federal Government has constituted a 10-member independent committee to investigate the deaths, including the circumstances surrounding the arrests and detention and the cause of death. The Niger State Government has also constituted a committee of inquiry, while the police are investigating the incident.
Atiku said he would continue to speak about the plight of children in mining communities.
“As a father, a grandfather and a Nigerian, I refuse to look away. I will continue to speak for these children because their lives matter, their dreams matter and their future belongs to Nigeria.
“The gold beneath their community should build classrooms and livelihoods, not graves,” he said.
https://x.com/atiku/status/2101632160650121242?s=46
Sodiq Yusuf is a trained media practitioner and journalist with considerable years of experience in print, broadcast, and digital journalism. His interests cover a wide range of causes in politics, governance, sports, community development, and good governance.
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