- Safiu Kehinde
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has called for an immediate, independent and transparent investigation into the mysterious death of 37 suspected illegal miners in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Niger State.
NPO Reported that the suspects arrested and detained by the NSCDC during a raid on illegal mining activities were in the early hours of Thursday found all dead in the agency’s custody.
This had sparked outrage from members of the public with calls for investigation and prosecution of those involved in the death of the suspects.
Joining the call in a statement issued on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC demanded independent autopsies, the publication of the victims’ identities and detention records, compensation for their families.
The party also demanded prosecution of every official responsible for their deaths.
Abdullaho described the incident as an indictment on the Federal Government, stressing that no Nigerian deserves to die for being arrested over a crime.
“Thirty-seven Nigerians entered government custody alive. Their families are now being asked to receive their bodies.
“This is an indictment on this government about the value of the average Nigerian life. Low income Nigerians are not disposable, and no Nigerian should lose his or her life simply because they were arrested while struggling to survive,” the party spokesperson said.
The ADC expressed its condolences to the families of the deceased and insisted that their arrest during raids on mining sites did not extinguish their constitutional rights to life, dignity and due process.
“We must be clear: poverty is not a capital offence. 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,” the party said.
The ADC also accused the All Progressives Congress-led administration of 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,
“President Tinubu must 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 concluded.