₦airaland Forum

MINNA — “We are ready to die here.”

That was the grim declaration of some teenage and adult miners who returned to the M.I. Wushishi mining site in Minna, Niger State, even as the mass arrest of suspected illegal miners was still underway, insisting that they had no other means of livelihood.

The miners returned to the site despite the arrest of scores of their colleagues by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, and the subsequent deaths of 37 of those detained.


Many of the miners, including boys, women and adults, were seen working at the site on Saturday, digging for gold with shovels, picks and other hand tools.


Some of them said they had returned to the mining site on the same day the NSCDC carried out the mass arrests, arguing that abandoning mining would leave them without any source of income.

Their return came after the NSCDC conducted operations around the Lt. Gen. Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi Estate in Minna on September 15 and 16.

The corps said the operation led to the arrest of suspected illegal miners.

Suberu Aniviye, the suspended NSCDC commandant in Niger State, subsequently said “scores” of the detained suspects were found dead in the early hours of Thursday following a suspected outbreak of disease.

However, the deaths did not stop some miners from returning to the site.

During a visit to the M.I. Wushishi mining site on Saturday, no security personnel were seen in the area, while miners continued their activities.

Some scooped loose soil into sacks and pans, while others used a flowing stream to separate the excavated material. Piles of freshly dug earth and muddy soil were scattered across the site.

One of the miners, Salisu DanMallam, said he was not at the site when the arrests were made but stayed away for two days because of the NSCDC operation.


“I wasn’t here when the incident happened on Monday and they made the arrest,” he said.

“I did not come out again since they made the arrest. I was not here on Tuesday and Wednesday because of the way the civil defence raided and that was why I did not come out.”

DanMallam, who said he had been mining in the area for more than 15 years, said staying away from the site had immediately affected his livelihood.

“If you don’t come out for a day or two you will feel it because there are no profitable jobs,” he said.

He said the miners had developed close relationships over the years, describing them as a family despite not being related by blood.

“We just treat each other like family here,” he said.

“I don’t have direct blood among those who died in the custody of NSCDC.”

DanMallam said he was still unable to establish the number of miners who had died or remained in detention following the arrests.

“I have not ascertained the number of people who are dead or alive. I know that some people were arrested but I haven’t seen them,” he said.

He also said miners in the area avoided digging deep into the earth because of the risk of landslides.

“Even if we dig, we don’t dig beyond our knee level. We don’t dig much because of landslide,” he said.

DanMallam said he also worked as a driver for a block-making business but found the job unprofitable compared with mining.


Another miner, 26-year-old Buhari Rabiu, said he had spent about two years working at the site.

Rabiu said he and others fled the area after receiving information that NSCDC officers were approaching.

“I was informed earlier that the officers were coming. One of the women informed us, and we left,” he said.

“Not long after we left, we heard that civil defence was arresting us.”

Rabiu also alleged that he had previously been arrested and assaulted by NSCDC personnel during a raid on suspected illegal miners.

He claimed that he sustained injuries during the encounter and was taken to hospital for treatment before his release after his parents intervened.

“When my parents wanted to bail me, they insisted that NSCDC must treat me. They took me to the hospital to stitch my wounds,” he said.

Rabiu further alleged that N120,000 was collected for his release.

He also alleged that one of his friends was shot at close range by NSCDC personnel during an encounter with miners.

“They did not even want to grant me bail. It was barely four weeks ago. I was there for four days at the time. They did not grant me bail until my relative arrived,” he said.

Rabiu added that his involvement in mining had prevented him from working as a truck pusher at the market.

The miners’ return to the site highlights the economic pressures confronting the informal mining community, with workers saying they have few alternatives to the activity despite the risks associated with it.

The circumstances surrounding the deaths of the 37 detained miners remain a subject of concern, with the NSCDC maintaining that the deaths followed a suspected disease outbreak.

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2026/09/we-are-ready-to-die-here-miners-return-to-site-after-37-die-in-custody

Something must kill a man .

Allahu Akbar!!!!!

Allahu Akbar!!!!!

The north sees the mineral resources in their areas as their personal properties, but the oil in the south must be shared to all.

Owners of the country, pipeline boys over to you.

Willy2025:
The north sees the mineral resources in their areas as their personal properties, but the oil in the south must be shared to all.

This is the problem and most southern leaders are cowards

Data boys…. How far? 2027… everything happens in the polling unit… no court. Rig and be counted

To an extent I support these boys. Government couldn't send them to school or give them job. So they must survive

No gree for anybody, you no kee person 💯.

Rig and your bodiessss will be counted. A direct warning ⚠️ to Jagaban Army structure bandits.

Willy2025:
The north sees the mineral resources in their areas as their personal properties, but the oil in the south must be shared to all.

They prefer to be security men for oil pipeline. Hausa man don build refinery for Lagos, another Hausa man in building another refinery in Akwa Ibom, yet people wey dem born inside the oil, still dey do boy boy

We are not coordinated in this country.
The government supposed to hand over that place to a company that will employ those boys.
I still like this than banditry or kidnapping

chigator2:
They prefer to be security men for oil pipeline. Hausa man don build refinery for Lagos, another Hausa man in building another refinery in Akwa Ibom, yet people wey dem born inside the oil, still dey do boy boy

some of them from the region get oil block in that same place but em nor even dey reason people.

BioData45:
This is the problem and most southern leaders are cowards

They are actually "useful idiots". The baba of them all is that one called Wike.

They should all be arrested and sent to prison
There should be no excuse to break the law

Akwamkpuruamu:
To an extent I support these boys. Government couldn't send them to school or give them job. So they must survive

To some extent, we should blame the government but you are financially incapacitated yet you dey procreate, does it make any sense?

Akwamkpuruamu:
To an extent I support these boys. Government couldn't send them to school or give them job. So they must survive

That's their parents responsibility not government or any one else's

Amuo nwoke ya buru nwoke.

One thing must k*ll a man

i dont know why extracting valuable materials from my own land should be a crime, besides the government itself cannot provide jobs and basic aminities yet they made mining by this stuggling individauls illegal . to a good extent i stupport them standing on their ground ,

It sounds like the money they earn cannot sustain them more than a few days.

tammie24:
That's their parents responsibility not government or any one else's

If you are poor, it's your fault. If everyone around you is also poor, It's government fault.

Na Tinubu fit these people aswear
See as he dey show Dem shege

Willy2025:
The north sees the mineral resources in their areas as their personal properties, but the oil in the south must be shared to all.

Can you imagine. The whole mineral resources in Nigeria belongs to every citizen. I don't understand some of these northerners

Gotocourt:
Rig and your bodiessss will be counted. A direct warning ⚠️ to Jagaban Army structure bandits.

Gotojail you are back again , i hope you wont leave nairaland come January because we have a lot to say and discuss...when Tinubu is declared winner of the presidential election.

This is diversionary,this is a ploy to exonerate the elites and ex Generals involved in this illegal mining

So ,they want to tell us it's this poor people that owns or pay for choppers and trailers that is used to transport the minerals out from there?

Or,are they the ones that pays the Chinese that is mining the minerals illegally in commercial quantities?

This illegal mining business isn't different from what's happening with our Niger delta oil theft,they'll arrest the folks stealing 100 litres of crude while turning a blind eye to the big shots that steals the crude via vessels/ships.

This country is gone and needs a reset, maybe we need the Jerry Rawlings kinda Ghanas model.





UNAM IKOT

Greediness of money
Ona ofun
Nih Ona orun

Hmmmmm. Wow ! This is scary. They should be rehabilitated and given safe jobs please

lamentor78:
Gotojail you are back again , i hope you wont leave nairaland come January because we have a lot to say and discuss...when Tinubu is declared winner of the presidential election.

Active

Fake newspaper page

Willy2025:
The north sees the mineral resources in their areas as their personal properties, but the oil in the south must be shared to all.

The president from the south has failed to secure the north to ensure only legal miners operate. As long as insecuriy persist, illegal mining will continue. The minister of solid minerals development also from the south isnt even ready to confront the matter in his own little way. It's a loss to the south and a win win to the north.

The dead are gone. Life is for the living. All in due time before we hear of residents backing their occupation using Quaranic verses.

Who keeps the gold found by these miners?

Are they working for themselves or for someone else?