“I Cannot See An Illegal Miner, I See Brilliance Trapped By Poverty” — Atiku Reacts To Viral Video Of Niger Teen Miner, Offers To Sponsor Education

Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress [ADC] presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has reacted to the viral video of teenage gold miner, Yusuf Aliyu, whose testimony challenged official claims over the death of 37 miners in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps [NSCDC] in Minna.

In a statement he personally signed on Saturday, Atiku said he watched the boy’s video repeatedly and each time his heart broke.

“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,” Atiku said.

Atiku said the teenager should not be labelled an illegal miner.

“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 said.

The former Vice President appealed for the safety of the boy, saying his courage must 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. Any effort to reach him must be handled responsibly through his family and appropriate child-protection channels,” he stated.

Atiku said the video raises a moral question for the country — how a community sitting on gold remains too poor to educate its children.

“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 described the situation as an indictment of the Tinubu administration, noting that the Federal Government controls Nigeria’s mineral resources while producing communities remain without schools, opportunities and protection.

“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.

Drawing a contrast, Atiku said former President Muhammadu Buhari established the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative [PAGMI] to register, train and integrate artisanal miners into the formal economy, with Niger State included among its intervention states, but that President Bola Tinubu inherited the framework and has met vulnerable miners with raids and detention.

“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,” he said.

Atiku said the boy is evidence against the government.

“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.

“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.

“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,” Atiku added.

Background

Yusuf Aliyu, in a viral video from a mining site in Niger State, had narrated how NSCDC operatives stormed Wushishi-Lukoto axis on September 15, shot at miners and arrested scores.

He said families saw the detainees on Wednesday, September 16, but were told on Thursday, September 17, that all 37 had died in custody and their bodies deposited at General Hospital Minna mortuary, where families were allegedly asked to pay N50,000 to access them.

The teenager, who said the miners are educated youths under 18 mining on permitted land to pay school fees and support poor parents, rejected claims that heat killed them, insisting the deaths were caused by overcrowding and injustice.

Following President Tinubu’s directive, Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo suspended the Niger State NSCDC Commandant and 20 officers, while a 10-member independent panel chaired by former DSS Deputy Director-General Jonathan Kure was set up to investigate.