The African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has offered to support the education of Yusuf Aliyu, a teenage artisanal miner in Niger State whose account of the deaths of miners in the state has gone viral.
Atiku made the offer on Sunday while reacting to a video of Aliyu speaking at a gold mining site following the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in the state.
In a statement posted on his X handle, Atiku said he had watched the teenager’s video repeatedly and was concerned that a child displaying such intelligence and confidence 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,” he said.
Atiku, a former vice president, said he did not view Aliyu merely as an “illegal miner”, but as a Nigerian child whose circumstances had pushed him into artisanal mining.
“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.
He also appealed for the teenager’s safety, warning that his public comments about the mining incident should 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,” Atiku said, adding that any attempt to reach the teenager should be made through his family and appropriate child-protection channels.
Aliyu, who spoke in the video circulating online, alleged that personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps had shot at miners at a gold mining site in Niger State.
The teenager also rejected the NSCDC’s initial explanation that the deaths of suspected illegal miners in its custody were caused by a disease outbreak.
“We are under 18, and we are not allowed to be taken inside a cell. Heat cannot kill a gold miner,” he said.
Aliyu further said the miners were working to support their impoverished families and pay their school fees.
“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 said.
“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.”
Reacting to the account, Atiku questioned how communities endowed with gold could remain impoverished and unable to provide adequate educational opportunities for their children.
He also criticised the administration of President Bola Tinubu over its handling of artisanal mining, contrasting it with the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative established under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to Atiku, the initiative was designed to register, train and integrate artisanal miners into the formal economy, with Niger State among its intervention areas.
“Buhari saw people to formalise. Tinubu sees poor people to criminalise,” he said.
Atiku called on the Federal Government to explain what happened to the initiative in Niger State and provide answers on the deaths of the 37 miners.
“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 miners were arrested during NSCDC operations in the M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto areas of Niger State on September 15 and 16.
The NSCDC initially attributed the deaths to a suspected disease outbreak, while survivors alleged that overcrowding, poor ventilation, heat and dehydration contributed to the fatalities.
The actual cause of death has not been established.
The Federal Government has constituted a 10-member independent committee to investigate the incident, including the circumstances surrounding the arrests and detention and the cause of death.
The Niger State Government has also set up a committee of inquiry, while the police are investigating the incident.
Atiku said the circumstances surrounding Aliyu’s story should prompt broader questions about poverty, child labour and the management of Nigeria’s mineral resources.
“The gold beneath their community should build classrooms and livelihoods, not graves,” he said.