Where is the gold?

When the news broke about children dying in custody from illegal mining, my friend sent me a message: ‘Where is the gold? You mean there is gold in this country and we are here? I thought gold was found in Saudi?’

There is gold in Nigeria o! Siddon dia!

Gold has always carried a certain magic. It’s buried beneath the earth, hard to extract, valuable enough to change lives, and powerful enough to finance fortunes, wars, and even political ambitions. Since time immemorial, our great-grandmothers have used gold for two purposes: to adorn themselves and show off their status to friends and family, and to preserve wealth.

When we want to buy gold, we simply head to the markets, not minding where and how the gold came from.

Gold is found in the soil beneath rural communities in Nigeria. It’s in the hands of artisanal miners working with rudimentary equipment. It’s in international markets, jewellery shops and financial systems far removed from the people who excavate it. And sometimes, as recent events in Niger State remind us, it is surrounded by death.

The reported deaths of 37 detainees in Minna, many of them teenagers arrested during raids on suspected illegal gold-mining operations, have raised troubling questions about overcrowding, ventilation, emergency medical response and the treatment of people in custody. Survivors described panic and difficulty breathing, while authorities initially offered explanations that have since been questioned. The precise cause of the deaths remains subject to investigation, and an independent medical and forensic process must establish what happened.

However, even in this gruesome tragedy, there is a much bigger lens through which we must view this horror. I believe it should compel us to examine the wider public health consequences of illegal and poorly regulated mining in Nigeria and around the world.

Nigeria has experienced the devastating consequences of mining-related pollution before. In Zamfara State, gold-processing activities contaminated communities with lead, causing severe poisoning among children. The contamination affected soil, water, household environments and food pathways. Hundreds of children reportedly died during the acute outbreak, while many survivors were left at risk of long-term neurological and developmental complications.

Lead poisoning is particularly cruel because its effects may not always be immediately visible. A child may not collapse in front of their parents. Instead, exposure can gradually affect brain development, learning, behaviour, hearing and other aspects of health. The child may survive, attend school and grow into adulthood, while carrying damage that could have been prevented. That is why illegal mining must be understood as more than a violation of mining regulations; It should also be an environmental health issue, a child protection issue and a question of intergenerational justice.

The dangers do not end with lead. Artisanal and small-scale gold mining in many parts of the world uses mercury to separate gold from ore. When mercury is heated, toxic vapour is released into the air. Miners, their families and nearby residents may inhale the vapour, while contaminated mercury can enter soil, rivers and the food chain. The World Health Organization identifies artisanal and small-scale gold mining as a major source of global mercury emissions and highlights the risks to workers and surrounding communities. A chemical used to recover a few grams of gold can travel far beyond the mining site, affecting people who have never entered a mine and may not even know that contamination has occurred.

Illegal gold mining is a global problem. Artisanal and small-scale mining takes place in more than 70 countries and provides livelihoods for millions of people. It is an important source of income in communities where agriculture and other employment opportunities are limited. But the sector is also frequently associated with weak occupational protections, limited access to healthcare, unsafe equipment, and hazardous chemical exposure.

This is where the conversation becomes complicated. It is easy to condemn illegal miners from the comfort of an office. It is much harder to explain what a parent should do when farming no longer provides enough food, formal employment is unavailable, and a mining site offers immediate payment.

The solution, therefore, cannot be limited to just arresting miners and destroying mining equipment. Enforcement may be necessary, especially where criminal networks, environmental destruction and exploitation are involved. Who finances the mining operations? Who purchases the gold? Who transports it across borders? Who verifies its origin? And who benefits when gold extracted through unsafe and exploitative conditions enters legitimate international markets?

Nigeria already has a foundation for a public health response. The country has worked with the World Health Organization on a strategy addressing mercury exposure in artisanal and small-scale gold mining. WHO has recommended approaches that include gathering health data, training healthcare workers, raising community awareness, and protecting vulnerable populations.

The challenge has always been implementation.

Mining communities need routine environmental surveillance, blood lead testing where exposure is suspected, occupational health services and accessible referral systems. Health workers should be trained to recognise symptoms associated with heavy-metal exposure and other mining-related hazards. Children must be protected from hazardous labour and supported to remain in school. Contaminated sites require remediation, not merely public announcements. Pregnant women and families living near processing sites need clear information about exposure pathways and practical measures to reduce risk.

Gold should generate economic opportunity, not conceal human suffering and cause death. Its value cannot be measured only in dollars, naira or the weight of a bar in a vault. We must also count the children whose development is damaged, the miners injured in collapses, the families drinking contaminated water and the communities living with polluted soil.

As for those children who died in custody, may their murderers never know peace. Here on earth, and in the hereafter.