APC National Chairman, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, has donated N52 million to families of 37 artisanal miners who died while in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Niger State, as well as those injured in the incident.
Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago disclosed the donation during a condolence visit by the APC National Working Committee to the Government House in Minna. Each bereaved family is to receive N1 million, while injured victims will receive N500,000.
Yilwatda, who led the delegation, expressed condolences to the victims’ families, the Niger State Government and Nigerians. He also commended President Bola Tinubu for establishing a committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths and pledged the party’s support for the state government.
Bago said the circumstances of the deaths remained a serious concern and that investigative committees were working to establish what happened. He said a committee led by the deputy governor, alongside the Emir of Minna, Alhaji Umaru Faruk Bahago, would oversee distribution of the donated funds.
The donation came as civil society organisations urged political actors to avoid turning the deaths into a partisan dispute. In a joint position, the groups described the incident as an institutional tragedy involving justice, human rights and the need for reforms in detention facilities.
The groups urged stakeholders to allow the nine-member Judicial Commission of Inquiry and the federal investigation to proceed without interference. They called for survivors, eyewitnesses and bereaved families to be allowed to provide evidence on allegations concerning overcrowding and poor ventilation at the NSCDC facility.
The civil society coalition also urged authorities to address the socioeconomic conditions pushing young people into unsafe artisanal mining. It called for safer and regulated community-based mining practices, saying the deaths should lead to reforms in detention facilities, the justice system and solid mineral governance rather than partisan division.
