By: Goodluck E. Adubazi, Abuja.

The Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has criticised the Federal Government over what he described as its failure to address poverty and the challenges confronting communities endowed with mineral resources.

Atiku, a former Vice President of Nigeria, made the remarks in a statement posted on his official Facebook page on Sunday, while reacting to a video featuring a young Nigerian, Yusuf Aliyu, whose circumstances, he said, reflected the hardship and lack of opportunities confronting children in mining communities.

The ADC presidential candidate said he had watched Aliyu’s video repeatedly, expressing concern that a child displaying intelligence, clarity and confidence should be in school rather than struggling for survival in a community surrounded by gold but immersed in poverty.

“I cannot look at him and see an ‘illegal miner.’ I see a Nigerian child failed by the country that should have protected him,” Atiku said.

He described the young boy as “brilliance trapped by poverty” and said his circumstances demonstrated how vulnerable children were being denied opportunities to develop their potential.

Atiku also appealed for the boy’s safety, warning that his courage in speaking out should not expose him or his family to intimidation or retaliation.

He said he was prepared to support the boy’s education, stressing that any effort to reach him should be handled responsibly through his family and appropriate child-protection channels.

According to him, the circumstances surrounding the boy raise broader questions about the management of Nigeria’s mineral resources and the conditions of communities where such resources are found.

“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?” he asked.

“How can its wealth leave the soil while hunger and deprivation remain in its homes?”

Atiku further criticised the administration of President Bola Tinubu, describing the situation as an indictment of the Federal Government’s handling of mineral resources and artisanal mining.

He argued that although the Federal Government controls Nigeria’s mineral resources, communities where the resources are extracted continue to face inadequate schools, limited economic opportunities and insecurity.

The former Vice President also contrasted the Tinubu administration’s approach with the previous administration’s Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI), which he said was established under former President Muhammadu Buhari to register, train and integrate artisanal miners into the formal economy.

Atiku alleged that while Niger State was among the states included in the intervention framework, the current administration had failed to adequately sustain the initiative.
“Buhari saw people to formalise. Tinubu sees poor people to criminalise,” he said.

He described Yusuf Aliyu as evidence of what he termed the failure of government to provide opportunities for vulnerable children and 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 also called on the government to explain what became of PAGMI in Niger State and raised questions over the reported deaths of 37 Nigerians in the custody of a federal agency.

“Calling them ‘illegal miners’ cannot erase their humanity or excuse their deaths,” he added.

Atiku said he would continue to speak for vulnerable Nigerians, particularly children whose circumstances, he argued, reflected broader challenges of poverty and governance.

“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.

He concluded: “The gold beneath their community should build classrooms and livelihoods, not graves.”

In the meantime, the Federal Government has constituted a 10-member independent committee to investigate the reported deaths of 37 persons held by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Niger State over alleged illegal mining.

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, said the action followed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive for a comprehensive, transparent and unhindered investigation into the incident of September 17, 2026.

The committee, chaired by retired DSS Deputy Director-General, Mr Jonathan Kure, mni, with Prof. Isa Hayatu Chiroma, SAN, as Secretary, is mandated to establish the identities of the deceased, examine the circumstances surrounding their arrest and detention, determine the causes of death and establish responsibility, negligence or misconduct.

Other members include retired AIG Hosea Hassan Karma, Prof. Olayinka Buhari, representatives of the Minna Emirate Council and Niger State Government, the National Secretary of the Miners Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Liman Sulaiman, lawyer and human rights activist Deji Adeyanju, amongst others.

The committee has two weeks to submit its report and may access relevant documents, facilities and locations, as well as invite memoranda from members of the public.

The Minister also ordered the suspension of the Niger State Commandant of the NSCDC and 20 other officers allegedly connected to the incident, pending the outcome of the investigation.

The suspended personnel include the O/C Station Guard, SC Usman Isah Ndamaka; Station Guard, ASCI Hassan Mohammed; CCA Bala Mohammed; arresting and investigating officers CSC Oluwadare Sunday, DCC Obafemi Elvis and CSC Annas Shitto Lamino; HOD INT/INV, DCC Philip Ajayi; O/C Legal, ACC Barr. Stephen Tsado; duty and guard officers including ASCI Alhassan Mohammed, IC Abdullahi Sale, IC Mohammed Sonfada, CAI Liman Abubakar, CAI Bala Usman, IC Mohammed Jiya, DSC Isah Suleiman, CAI Ahmed Wushishi, IC Sale Adamu, IC Haruna Mohammed, ASCI Aliyu Sallah and CAI Isah Sanusi.

Tunji-Ojo described the reported deaths as deeply disturbing and warned that any attempt to destroy or conceal evidence, intimidate witnesses or obstruct the investigation would be treated as a serious offence, while extending condolences to the families of the deceased and appealing for calm.