Illegal Miners’ Death: ADC Demands Independent Probe

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has called for an immediate, independent and transparent investigation into the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Niger State.

ADC, in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, also called for the publication of autopsies, the victims’ identities and detention records, compensation for their families, and the prosecution of every official responsible for their deaths.

The party told the government that poverty is not a capital offence, adding that the incident which led to the offence the victims were accused of cannot be separated from the worsening cost-of-living and unemployment crises that have pushed millions of Nigerians into desperate and dangerous means of survival.

“Unemployment is not a death sentence. No accusation, whatever the case, gives any government institution the right to return citizens to their families in body bags,” ADC said.

The party noted that the same All Progressives Congress (APC) led federal government that has failed to provide jobs to Nigerians is now criminalising the desperation created by its own policies.

“Food is unaffordable, transportation has become a luxury, businesses are closing, and legitimate opportunities are disappearing.

“Yet, rather than confront these failures, the government continues to punish the victims of its failures,” ADC stated.

The party said the death of 37 Nigerians in government custody is an indictment and speaks more about the value of a Nigerian life.

ADC said no Nigerian should lose his or her life simply because they were arrested while struggling to survive, adding that the suspected illegal miners’ arrest during raids on mining sites did not extinguish their constitutional rights to life, dignity and due process.

According to the party, the government is busy arresting poor miners while failing to expose and prosecute the powerful interests behind illegal mining and the criminal networks connected to it.

“The poor are arrested for digging to survive, while the powerful men who finance illegal mining, sponsor insecurity and cart away Nigeria’s mineral wealth remain beyond the reach of the law.

“The Tinubu administration has made honest work scarce, survival expensive and insecurity profitable,” ADC said.

The party called on President Tinubu to decide whether Nigeria’s security institutions exist to protect citizens or punish them for being poor.

“Nigerians need jobs, security and justice, not an economy that impoverishes them and institutions that treat their lives as disposable,” the ADC stated.