For 15-year-old Musa, the search for gold began at an age when most children would have been preparing for school each morning.
He was about 10 when he entered the mining pits around Minna. Five years later, he has dropped out of school and spends his days mining, saying poverty and the need to help his family left him with little choice.
“I want to go back to school, but there is no money to send me,” Musa told DAILY POST on September 16, a day before 37 suspected illegal miners died in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Minna.
His experience reflects a wider problem confronting mining communities in Niger State, where children and young people are increasingly drawn towards an activity that provides immediate income but can take them away from education.
In Kuta, Shiroro Local Government Area, a school principal told DAILY POST that some schools had become sparsely populated as children moved into mining.
For struggling families, the attraction is straightforward. Mining can provide money for food and, in some cases, school fees, while the benefits of remaining in school may appear distant when parents are unable to meet immediate household needs.
Kudu, an 18-year-old from Chanchaga in Minna, said mining had become part of his family’s livelihood, with his mother and siblings also involved.
Some miners told DAILY POST that they could earn up to N20,000 on a good day, although income could be considerably lower or non-existent when mining yielded little.
For 22-year-old Muhammad, the risks have not outweighed the need to earn a living. He said he had spent about four years mining and intended to return to the pits after his release because he had no alternative source of income.
Fourteen-year-old Hassan said he had not returned to school since his family moved from Kano to Minna more than two years ago. He said he had spent much of that period mining.
Another young miner said he left school after completing secondary education because his family could not afford further schooling. He turned to mining to raise money for his education while helping to support his five younger siblings.
The choices facing these young people illustrate the economic pressure behind repeated movements into mining areas, even as security agencies intensify operations against illegal mining.
Arrests have not ended the cycle
Mining has also moved closer to residential areas in some communities around Minna.
Residents of M.I. Wushishi and surrounding areas told DAILY POST that mining activities had affected properties, with allegations of damaged fences and confrontations involving residents who challenged miners.
Peter Auta, a resident, alleged that miners attacked him after he confronted them and destroyed more than 500 blocks belonging to his fence. He said he reported the matter to security agencies but claimed the mining continued.
At the same time, repeated arrests have failed to permanently keep many miners away from the pits.
The Niger State Police Command has previously described the repeated arrest and return of illegal miners to mining sites as “recycling them”.
The NSCDC also said it had arrested more than 100 suspected illegal miners in Niger State in 2026, with some taken to court and some minors granted bail.
The latest operation at the M.I. Wushishi/Lukoto axis began on September 15 and continued into the following day. The NSCDC described the exercise as a “burst operation”, during which scores of suspected illegal miners were arrested and exhibits recovered.
DAILY POST reporters who visited the area on September 16 spoke to miners who said they had previously been arrested and later returned to mining because they had no other means of livelihood.
Some alleged that they were asked for as much as N500,000 for bail, although they claimed negotiations could reduce the amount to between N15,000 and N25,000.
Two parents separately claimed they paid N500,000 while attempting to secure the release of their children but said the children were not released.
The newspaper said it could not independently establish who received the money, the legal basis for the alleged payments or whether they represented authorised bail charges. The NSCDC was also contacted for clarification but had not responded before publication.
Then came the deaths
The enforcement operation took a tragic turn on September 17 when the NSCDC announced that detainees arrested during the operation had died.
The Niger State Government subsequently put the death toll at 37.
The initial explanation from the NSCDC pointed to a suspected disease outbreak, while authorities stressed that the definitive cause had not been established.
Accounts from survivors raised other questions.
One survivor, Dauda Shehu, alleged that 65 detainees had been held in a poorly ventilated cell and struggled for air.
Another survivor claimed that only four people survived from those held in the cell and alleged that detainees repeatedly asked officers to open the door as conditions deteriorated.
Those accounts remain allegations and are among the matters expected to be examined by investigators.
Dr Mohammed Danasabe, Medical Director of General Hospital, Minna, said the hospital registered 37 bodies deposited by the NSCDC and recorded the same number as having been transported for burial.
The deaths triggered anger among relatives and residents, with families gathering to identify those who had been detained during the mining operation.
There were also unverified claims that more than 60 people had died. That figure has not been established and differs from the official death toll of 37.
Protests expose wider anger
The deaths sparked protests that spread from mining communities into parts of Minna.
Residents reported disruptions to commercial activities and the closure of shops and markets as tension increased. There were also reports of damage to public property, including vehicles at the Niger State Transport Authority facility.
The state government subsequently imposed a six-hour curfew on Minna after Friday prayers as authorities moved to contain the unrest.
Inspector-General of Police Rilwan Disu visited Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago in Minna and pledged a full investigation. He also urged residents to remain calm and warned against attacks on public and private property.
Bago said preliminary investigations were examining possibilities including overcrowding, suffocation and exposure to substances associated with mining, while stressing that those were not final findings.
He said samples from the mining site would be examined and that forensic and autopsy processes were underway.
Multiple investigations
The Niger State Government has constituted a committee of inquiry headed by Deputy Governor Yakubu Garba to investigate the deaths.
The police, Department of State Services and NSCDC are also involved in separate aspects of the investigation, while forensic examinations are expected to help determine the medical cause of death.
The NSCDC suspended Niger State Commandant Suberu Siyaka Aniviye and members of his team to allow investigations to proceed.
The Niger State House of Assembly has called for a thorough and transparent inquiry, including an examination of the number of detainees, their condition at arrest, the length and conditions of detention, access to medical care and the definitive cause of death.
Former military Head of State Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida also expressed sympathy with the victims’ families and called for calm while investigations continue.
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, has called for the prosecution of anyone found culpable, while civil society groups have urged investigators to establish individual responsibility rather than allow the matter to end with administrative sanctions.
The League of Northern Democrats similarly demanded an independent investigation into the arrests, detention, treatment and deaths of the suspected miners.
The children left behind
Yet beyond the investigations into the 37 deaths is a problem that began long before the detainees entered an NSCDC cell.
Musa wants to return to school but says his family cannot afford it.
Hassan has spent years away from the classroom. Muhammad says he expects to return to mining because he has no other means of survival.
Their stories suggest that enforcement alone may not break the cycle drawing young people into mining.
For families struggling to survive, gold can represent immediate cash while education represents a future they cannot afford to wait for.
That leaves authorities facing two connected challenges: enforcing laws against illegal mining while addressing the poverty, unemployment and lack of educational opportunities that keep sending young people back to the pits.
The deaths in NSCDC custody have intensified scrutiny of the way suspected illegal miners are treated after arrest. But for children like Musa, the deeper question remains how to make returning to school a realistic alternative to entering a mining pit.
Gold Over School: Poverty Pushes Niger Children Into Mining Pits
