BY AHMED AKANBI
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, on Sunday, offered to sponsor the education of Yusuf Aliyu, the teenage artisanal miner whose viral interview has drawn nationwide outrage, following the deaths of 37 miners in Niger State.
In a statement posted on his X handle, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, said his “heart breaks” each time he watches the video of the boy speaking at a mining site in Niger State.
”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,” he stated.
The teenager, who spoke to News Central TV, alleged that personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) shot at miners at a gold mining site and disputed the Corps’ claim that the 37 deaths in its custody were caused by 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 NSCDC (doesn’t) have the right to shoot at us.
”We are not illiterate. We are educated. We do this to help our parents. 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,” Yusuf said in the video.
Atiku said the boy’s courage must not put him at risk, and appealed for his protection while pledging to fund his education through proper channels.
”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.
The former vice president said the video exposes a deeper crisis of poverty in mineral-rich communities, questioning how a community sitting on gold remains unable to educate its children.
”How can its wealth leave the soil while hunger and deprivation remain in its homes? This is an indictment of the Tinubu administration. The Federal Government controls Nigeria’s mineral resources, yet the communities producing that wealth remain without schools, opportunities or protection,” Atiku said.
He contrasted the current administration’s approach with the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI) established by former President Muhammadu Buhari to formalise artisanal miners, including those in Niger State.
”President Buhari established PAGMI to register, train and integrate artisanal miners into the formal economy. 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.
The deaths occurred after suspected illegal miners were arrested during NSCDC operations in M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto areas of Niger State on September 15 and 16, with the Corps initially attributing the deaths to a suspected disease outbreak.
Survivors, however, alleged that overcrowding, poor ventilation, heat, and dehydration led to the tragedy, a claim the Federal Government is yet to confirm.
Atiku demanded explanations on the fate of PAGMI in Niger and how 37 Nigerians died in custody of a federal agency, insisting that labeling them illegal miners cannot erase their humanity.
”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,” he said.
The Federal Government has set up a 10-member independent committee to probe the incident, while the Niger State Government has also launched its own investigation to unravel the circumstances surrounding the deaths.