Former Vice President and 2037 ADC Presidential Candidate Atiku Abubakar has expressed concern over the plight of Yusuf Aliyu, a teenage artisanal miner from Niger State whose video at a mining site has gone viral, saying the boy’s intelligence and confidence should have found expression in a classroom rather than in the struggle for survival.


In a statement shared on his X page on Sunday, September 20, 2026, Atiku said he had watched Aliyu’s video repeatedly and that the boy’s situation had left him deeply troubled.


Atiku said he did not see Aliyu merely as an “illegal miner,” but as a Nigerian child whose potential had been constrained by poverty and limited opportunities.


He appealed for Aliyu’s safety, warning that the attention generated by the video should not expose the boy or his family to intimidation or retaliation. He also 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.


The former vice president used the incident to raise broader questions about poverty in communities endowed with mineral resources, asking how communities sitting on gold deposits could remain deprived of basic opportunities, including education.


Atiku also criticised the Federal Government’s approach to artisanal mining under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, arguing that the government should focus not only on enforcement but also on creating pathways for vulnerable miners to enter the formal economy.


He referenced the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI), launched under the Muhammadu Buhari administration in 2019 to formalise artisanal and small-scale gold mining and integrate operators into Nigeria’s legal and economic framework.


According to official government records, PAGMI was designed to address rural poverty, provide safer mining technologies, improve access to markets and formalise artisanal mining. Niger State was among the states identified for intervention after Kebbi and Osun were selected as pilot states.


Atiku questioned what had become of the initiative in Niger State and contrasted the Buhari-era formalisation approach with what he described as the Tinubu administration’s emphasis on enforcement against suspected illegal miners.


His comments come amid widespread concern over the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners who died while in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Minna, Niger State.


The NSCDC initially said the deaths followed a suspected disease outbreak, while subsequent reports cited overcrowding and inadequate ventilation as possible contributing factors. Authorities have stressed that the definitive cause of death remains subject to investigation.


President Tinubu has since directed a comprehensive investigation into the incident, while the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, constituted a 10-member independent committee to investigate the reported deaths. Several NSCDC officers were also suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.


Atiku argued that the deaths should not be reduced to the label of “illegal miners,” insisting that people in government custody remain entitled to protection and dignity.


He further maintained that Aliyu’s story should serve as a reminder of the need to address poverty, education and economic opportunities in Nigeria’s mineral-rich communities.


For Atiku, the central issue extends beyond illegal mining to the conditions that drive young Nigerians into hazardous work in the first place.


“The gold beneath their community should build classrooms and livelihoods, not graves,” he said.