ADC presidential candidate and former vice‑president Atiku Abubakar has demanded that the federal government explain the deaths of 37 miners who died while in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). The miners, many of them teenagers, were arrested alive during an operation against alleged illegal mining and later died in a government‑run detention facility, according to a statement released in Abuja by Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant, Phrank Shaibu.
The government has responded by suspending several NSCDC officers and establishing a panel to investigate the incident. Survivors of the operation have alleged that they were packed into an overcrowded, poorly ventilated cell where they struggled to breathe, a claim Atiku says warrants an immediate and independent criminal investigation rather than an internal inquiry.
Atiku singled out Minister of Solid Mineral Development Dele Alake and Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji‑Ojo, who oversees the NSCDC, saying they “have direct questions to answer over the incident.” He rejected the administration’s explanations, stating:
“These were not casualties of Boko Haram. They were not murdered by bandits. They did not die on a battlefield. They died after agents of the Nigerian government arrested, transported and detained them inside a government facility.”
Drawing a parallel with the 2014 Nigeria Immigration Service recruitment tragedy that claimed at least 16 lives, Atiku urged that the same standard of accountability be applied. He called for an independent probe, warned that “suspending some officers is not justice,” and placed ultimate responsibility on President Bola Tinubu, noting that the president “cannot behave like a spectator whenever his administration is confronted by tragedy, scandal or failure.”
Atiku concluded that junior officers should not become “sacrificial lambs” while senior officials evade scrutiny, and warned that “Nigerians will continue to ask: how did 37 citizens enter government custody alive and emerge dead?” The demand for answers adds further pressure on the Tinubu administration as it seeks to address the fallout from the miners’ deaths.
<small>Source: The Sun Nigeria — read the original story there.</small>
