PRP chieftain urges probe panel to be transparent over miners’ deaths - Punch Newspapers
A chieftain of the Peoples Redemption Party, Yakubu Kingsley, has urged the investigative panel probing the deaths of 37 suspected artisanal miners in Minna, Niger State, to conduct a transparent and impartial investigation. The Federal Government on Tuesday inaugurated the committee to probe the deaths of the suspected illegal miners. The committee is chaired by retired Deputy Director-General of the Department of State Services, Jonathan Kure, while a former Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Prof. Isa Hayatu Chiroma, SAN, is the secretary. However, Kingsley, a presidential aspirant of the PRP, in a statement released on Tuesday in Abuja, expressed concern over reports surrounding the deaths of the miners while in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps. He said the accounts emerging from survivors were “deeply distressing” and called for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths.See more Punch stories on Google.Add Punch on Google Kingsley said, “Whatever the circumstances that led to their detention, they remained human beings whose lives deserved protection, dignity and humane treatment.” He said reports that some detainees were kept in an overcrowded cell, struggled to breathe and repeatedly called for help before some of them died warranted a transparent investigation. “The investigative panel probing the deaths of 37 suspected artisanal miners in Minna, Niger State, should conduct a transparent and impartial investigation “Nigerians deserve to know the outcome of the investigation,” he said. The PRP chieftain also urged the panel to examine the broader circumstances driving Nigerians, including young people, into hazardous artisanal mining. Miners’ deaths: States will do better if given control of mining – Makinde FULL LIST: Names of 37 ‘illegal miners’ who died in NSCDC custody in Niger – Report Ondo denies approving N8,000 blood test in secondary school He said poverty, unemployment and limited access to formal employment, education and sustainable livelihoods had contributed to the growth of artisanal mining in resource-rich communities. Kingsley, however, said the circumstances did not justify illegal mining, environmental destruction or criminal exploitation of the nation’s mineral resources. He said enforcement alone could not address the problem without tackling its underlying economic causes. “Enforcement alone cannot address a problem whose roots also lie in poverty, unemployment and the absence of viable alternatives,” he said. Kingsley also expressed concern over reports that some of those who died were teenagers, describing illegal mining as a “national development crisis.” “If children are leaving classrooms and entering dangerous mining sites because their families can no longer survive without their contribution, then the problem is much bigger than illegal mining,” he said. Kingsley, a PRP presidential aspirant currently challenging the May 25 party’s presidential primary poll, said no Nigerian should lose his life seeking a means of survival. He urged the authorities to ensure that the 37 deaths did not become another statistic, stressing the need to protect human life while enforcing the law. Solomon Odeniyi Solomon Odeniyi is a journalist at Punch Newspapers with over six years of professional experience. He has covered key national beats including the judiciary, military, and police, and currently reports on anti-corruption and related issues. Solomon’s work reflects a strong commitment to development-oriented reporting, public interest journalism, and accountability.
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