FG owes Nigerians explanation over death of 37 miners – Atiku

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has said the Federal Government, especially the Ministers of Solid Mineral Development and Interior, Dele Alake and Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, respectively, owe Nigerians explanation over the death of 37 miners in government custody.

Atiku, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant, Phrank Shaibu, said the victims were arrested alive by agents of the government, detained under state authority and never returned alive to their families.

The 37 miners reportedly died in the custody of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), following their arrest.

The Federal Government in reaction suspended some officials of the NSCDC and constituted a panel to probe the incident.

Nonetheless, the former Vice President said Alake and Tunji-Ojo, who supervise the Ministry of Solid Mineral Development and Ministry of Interior, which is in charge of the NSCDC, respectively, have direct questions to answer over the incident.

The statement read in part: “Thirty-seven Nigerians, many of them teenagers, entered government custody alive. Thirty-seven of them died there. The Tinubu administration cannot explain away 37 bodies with press releases, suspensions and bureaucratic excuses.

“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.

“The government seized their freedom and assumed responsibility for their safety. It must now account for every life lost. President Tinubu, Dele Alake and Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo cannot hide behind propaganda while 37 Nigerian families bury their children.”

Atiku recalled that “in 2014, at least 16 young Nigerians died during the Nigeria Immigration Service recruitment tragedy. The supervising minister, Abba Moro, was investigated and subsequently prosecuted over matters arising from that exercise. Why should the standard be different today? Are these lives worth less because the victims were poor, unemployed and accused of illegal mining?

“These Nigerians were arrested during an operation against alleged illegal mining and detained by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, an agency supervised by the Ministry of Interior. Survivors have alleged that they were crammed into an overcrowded, poorly ventilated cell where they struggled to breathe.

“That allegation demands an immediate and independent criminal investigation. It cannot be resolved through an internal inquiry in which government officials investigate government agents and present government-approved conclusions to Nigerians.

“Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has direct and unavoidable questions to answer. He supervises the agency in whose custody these Nigerians allegedly died. He cannot claim credit for the NSCDC’s achievements and then outsource responsibility when 37 people die in its custody.

“Dele Alake must equally account for the enforcement operations surrounding the sector he supervises. Instead of confronting this catastrophe with the gravity it demands, he remained conspicuously silent while occupying himself with political propaganda. When 37 Nigerians die following an operation connected to your sector, silence is not neutrality; it is an abdication of responsibility.”

Furthermore, Atiku stated that President Bola Tinubu “bears ultimate responsibility” for the conduct of his government, noting that the President “cannot behave like a spectator whenever his administration is confronted by tragedy, scandal or failure. The buck stops at his desk, and 37 unexplained deaths cannot be delegated away.”

The ADC candidate, who noted that suspending some officers is not justice, also stated that junior officers must not become sacrificial lambs while those who superintend over the affairs of their operations are not subjected to scrutiny.

He said: “The administration is attempting to bury the central question beneath suspensions and carefully managed explanations. But Nigerians will continue to ask: how did 37 citizens enter government custody alive and emerged dead?”

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