Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has offered to support the education of Yusuf Aliyu, a teenage artisanal miner in Niger State whose video has gone viral.
Aliyu’s video, in which he speaks about his circumstances and the conditions faced by young people at a mining site, has drawn renewed attention following the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in NSCDC custody in Niger State. Atiku made the offer in a statement posted on X on Sunday.
Atiku said he was particularly concerned that Aliyu, whom he described as intelligent and confident, was working at a mining site instead of being in school.
“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 wrote.
The former vice president also appealed for Aliyu’s safety, saying any attempt to provide assistance should involve the teenager’s family and appropriate child-protection 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.
“Any effort to reach him must be handled responsibly through his family and appropriate child-protection channels.”
Aliyu had spoken to News Central Television in a video circulated online, where he alleged that NSCDC personnel had shot at miners at a gold mining site in Niger State.
The teenager also disputed the initial explanation that the deaths of suspected illegal miners in NSCDC 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,” Aliyu said.
“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.”
He added that young people at the site worked to support their families and pay their school fees.
“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,” he said.
Atiku used Aliyu’s account to raise broader questions about poverty in communities where mineral resources are being extracted.
“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 asked.
He also criticised the Tinubu administration’s approach to artisanal mining and referred to 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.””
Atiku further called on the Federal Government to account for the status of PAGMI in Niger State and the circumstances surrounding the deaths 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,” he said.
The deaths occurred after suspected illegal miners were arrested during NSCDC operations in Niger State. The Federal Government has since ordered an investigation into the incident.
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, constituted a 10-member independent committee on September 19 to investigate the arrests, detention and deaths and determine their cause and circumstances. Officers linked to the incident were also suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had earlier ordered a full and transparent investigation, saying enforcement operations against illegal mining must comply with the law and respect the dignity and fundamental rights of people in custody.
Atiku said he would continue to speak about children affected by poverty and deprivation.
“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,” he said.
“The gold beneath their community should build classrooms and livelihoods, not graves.”
The investigations into the miners’ deaths are ongoing, while Atiku’s offer draws attention to the need to protect children working in mining communities.
Ademide Adebayo
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