Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has offered to support the education of Yusuf Aliyu, a teenage artisanal miner from Niger State whose video from a mining site recently went viral.
Atiku said on Sunday that he was deeply concerned whenever he watched the video of the teenager speaking about his experiences at the mining site, particularly following the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
In a statement shared on his X handle, Atiku said the teenager’s intelligence and confidence should be nurtured through education rather than work at a mining site.
“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.
He said he viewed Yusuf not simply as an “illegal miner,” but as a Nigerian child whose circumstances required attention and support.
Atiku also appealed for the teenager’s safety, warning that his public comments 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,” he said, adding that any effort to reach the teenager should be handled through his family and appropriate child-protection channels.
Yusuf 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. He also disputed the Corps’ initial explanation that the deaths of detainees were linked to a suspected disease outbreak.
The teenager said he and other young miners worked at the site partly because of their families’ financial difficulties and to support their education.
His comments came amid an ongoing investigation into the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners who died while in NSCDC custody after being arrested during operations in Niger State on September 15 and 16. The actual cause of the deaths has not yet been established.
The Federal Government has since constituted a 10-member independent committee to investigate the arrests, detention and deaths, while several NSCDC officers have been suspended pending the outcome of the probe.
Atiku also used the incident to raise broader questions about poverty in communities with significant mineral resources and the management of Nigeria’s mining sector.
He questioned how communities with valuable mineral deposits could remain unable to provide adequate opportunities and education for their children.
The former Vice President further referenced the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI), established under former President Muhammadu Buhari, and called on the Federal Government to explain the current status of the programme in Niger State.
He also called for an explanation of the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the 37 detainees, saying that describing them as suspected illegal miners should not diminish the need to establish how they died.
“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,” Atiku said.
“The gold beneath their community should build classrooms and livelihoods, not graves.”
