Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has offered to support the education of Yusuf Aliyu, a teenage artisanal miner in Niger State whose account of conditions at a gold mining site has drawn national attention following the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
Atiku, who is the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for the 2027 election, made the offer in a statement published on his X account on Sunday after a video of Aliyu speaking to News Central Television circulated widely.
The teenager described the circumstances that had pushed young people in the mining community into artisanal mining, saying some worked at the site to pay their school fees and support their families.
Atiku said he was prepared to support Aliyu’s education and urged authorities and members of the public to protect the teenager and his family from intimidation or retaliation following the attention generated by his comments.
“I am prepared to support his education and ensure that the brilliance we have witnessed is not buried by poverty,” Atiku said, adding that any effort to reach the teenager should be handled through his family and appropriate child-protection channels.
Aliyu also made allegations about the circumstances surrounding the deaths of miners arrested by the NSCDC in Niger State, disputing the Corps’ initial explanation that a suspected disease outbreak was responsible.
In the video, the teenager alleged that NSCDC personnel had opened fire on miners at the gold site and rejected the description of the miners as illegal operators. His claims have not been independently established and are expected to form part of the wider scrutiny surrounding the incident.
The deaths followed NSCDC operations in the M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto areas of Niger State on September 15 and 16, during which scores of suspected illegal miners were arrested.
The NSCDC later reported that 37 detainees were found dead in custody. The Corps initially attributed the deaths to a suspected disease outbreak, while survivors and relatives gave different accounts, including allegations of overcrowding, heat, poor ventilation and dehydration. The actual cause of death has not been conclusively established.
The incident has since triggered investigations at both federal and state levels.
The Federal Government has suspended 20 NSCDC officers, in addition to the Niger State Commandant, pending the outcome of investigations. It has also constituted a 10-member independent committee to investigate the deaths and determine the circumstances surrounding the arrests and detention of the miners. The committee has two weeks to submit its report.
The Niger State Government has also established a committee of inquiry, while the police are investigating the incident. Protests were held in Minna following the deaths, with security personnel using tear gas to disperse demonstrators, according to reports.
Atiku linked Aliyu’s situation to the broader challenges facing children in mining communities, questioning how communities with valuable mineral resources could remain affected by poverty and limited access to education.
He also criticised the Federal Government’s approach to artisanal mining, contrasting the current administration’s enforcement measures with the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI), launched under former President Muhammadu Buhari to support the formalisation of artisanal and small-scale gold mining.
Atiku called on the Federal Government to explain the status of PAGMI in Niger State and account for the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the 37 detainees. His comments on the administration’s mining policy were political assertions and do not constitute findings from the ongoing investigations.
The case has also renewed attention on the enforcement of mining regulations. On September 15, the same day one of the NSCDC operations in Niger was reported, the Corps’ Mining Marshals separately arrested two suspects at an alleged illegal gold-mining site in Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory.
According to the NSCDC, the Gwagwalada operation followed intelligence and a petition alleging unauthorised mining within the coordinates of a valid exploration licence. Preliminary investigations indicated that mining activities were allegedly taking place outside the boundaries of an approved mineral title.
The two developments have placed renewed focus on the balance between enforcement of Nigeria’s mining laws, the conditions in which artisanal miners operate and the socioeconomic circumstances that push young people into mining communities.
For Aliyu, the immediate attention has shifted from the mining site to education, with Atiku’s offer placing the teenager’s schooling and safety at the centre of the wider debate sparked by the Niger State deaths.
The government’s investigation into the deaths, however, remains ongoing, and the circumstances that led to the loss of 37 lives in custody have yet to be conclusively determined.
