The African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the Bola Tinubu administration of criminalising poor Nigerians involved in artisanal mining while demanding answers over the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in NSCDC custody in Niger State.
Atiku made the allegation in a statement reacting to a video of a young boy from a gold-mining community in the state.
He questioned why residents of a community rich in gold remain poor and struggle to provide basic opportunities, including education, for their children.
“How can a community sitting upon gold remain so poor that it cannot educate its children?” Atiku asked.
He said the situation raised questions about how Nigeria manages its mineral resources and the benefits reaching communities where the resources are extracted.
Atiku also compared the Tinubu administration’s approach with the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative, PAGMI, introduced under former President Muhammadu Buhari to formalise artisanal mining.
“Buhari saw people to formalise. Tinubu sees poor people to criminalise,” he said.
The presidential candidate also described the child featured in the video as a reflection of the hardship facing people in mining communities.
“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,” Atiku said.
He called on the Federal Government to explain what happened to PAGMI in Niger State and provide answers over the deaths of the 37 suspected miners in NSCDC custody.
Atiku also argued that describing the victims as illegal miners should not remove the need to account for what happened to them.
“The gold beneath their community should build classrooms and livelihoods, not graves,” he said.
“Tinubu criminalising poor miners” — Atiku questions 37 deaths in NSCDC custody