Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has strongly condemned the reported deaths of 37 young miners arrested over alleged illegal mining in Niger, describing the tragedy as another warning of the devastating human and ecological costs of Nigeria’s extractive economy.
The NGO noted that the victims, aged between 14 and 20, reportedly died while in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) following raids on suspected illegal mining sites in the Wushishi-Lukoto area of Niger.
HOMEF said that while the cause of their deaths remains subject to investigation, the incident must prompt deeper questions about the conditions that drive young people into hazardous mining and the extractive model that continues to place human lives and ecosystems at risk.
HOMEF Executive Director, Dr. Nnimmo Bassey while reacting to the development loan Teusday, said the tragedy should not be viewed solely through the lens of illegal mining or security enforcement, but as part of a wider crisis created by destructive extractivism.
Bassey, a renowned environmental crusade who holds a national honour of Member of Order of the Federal Republic spoke in Yenagoa.
“We must stop treating extraction as the pathway to development while ignoring the lives, lands and ecosystems sacrificed in the process.
“Whether it is oil, gold or critical minerals, an economic model that destroys the ecological foundations of life cannot be the future we seek. Nigeria must not reproduce the history of the Niger Delta by replacing oil with minerals while leaving communities to bear pollution, dispossession, livelihood losses and ecological destruction.” Bassey noted.
He further states that “The deaths underscore the urgent need to address the poverty, livelihood insecurity and economic exclusion that push people into dangerous and informal mining, while confronting the environmental destruction associated with unregulated extraction.
“Stopping illegal mining cannot mean simply replacing miners with more destructive industrial extraction. Nigeria must instead question an extractive model that prioritises mineral wealth while communities bear the costs through degraded forests, polluted water, damaged farmlands, unsafe working conditions and lost livelihoods.”
HOMEF urged the government to ensure that no person taken into custody during mining enforcement operations loses their life through neglect or unsafe detention conditions.
The circumstances surrounding the deaths must be independently and transparently investigated, with accountability established where wrongdoing or negligence is found, and a fundamental shift from extract, exploit and abandon towards ecological protection, restoration and sustainable livelihoods.
HOMEF therefore called on the Federal and Niger State Governments to:
Conduct an independent and transparent investigation into the deaths of the 37 detainees.
It urged the governments to establish accountability for any violations, negligence or other wrongdoing.
On the socioeconomic drivers of hazardous mining, particularly poverty, unemployment and the loss of sustainable livelihood opportunities, HOMEF called for a halt todestructive mining practices that degrade forests, farmlands, water bodies and other ecological systems.
He emphasised that the systems must ensure that mining does not proceed in ecologically sensitive and community-dependent territories.
The NGO demanded strengthening environmental monitoring, enforcement and restoration in mining-affected communities, with polluters and operators held responsible for ecological damage.
According to HOMEF, the governments must ensure meaningful participation of affected communities in decisions concerning mineral extraction, including their right to determine what happens to their territories.
“Invest in non-extractive and sustainable livelihoods that reduce dependence on hazardous mining and strengthen community economies,” HOMEF requested.
HOMEF maintained that Nigeria cannot address the crisis of illegal mining without confronting the deeper crisis of extractivism.