Political pressure mounts on President Tinubu, Minister Dele Alake, and Minister Tunji-Ojo over the deaths of 37 miners in NSCDC custody, as Atiku invokes the 2014 NIS tragedy and Peter Obi's camp accuses Alake of using distraction tactics.
.jpg)
Abuja — September 24, 2026
Political pressure is intensifying on President Bola Tinubu's administration over the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in NSCDC custody in Niger State, a case this outlet has covered since Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo's initial commiseration visit, with both former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi's media office now demanding real accountability rather than the suspension of junior officers alone.
In a statement issued Sunday, Atiku said President Tinubu, Minister of Solid Minerals Development Dele Alake, and Tunji-Ojo have "37 unexplained deaths" on their hands, arguing that the victims were arrested alive by government agents and never returned to their families.
"The government seized their freedom and assumed responsibility for their safety. It must now account for every life lost," he said, comparing the case directly to the 2014 Nigeria Immigration Service recruitment tragedy at Abuja's National Stadium, in which at least 16 applicants died and then-Minister Abba Moro was investigated and later prosecuted. Atiku questioned why the same standard of accountability should not apply here.
Atiku argued that suspending the Niger State NSCDC Commandant and 20 other officers, a step this outlet reported earlier, falls well short of justice, insisting that those who authorised and supervised the operation must not escape scrutiny while lower-ranked personnel absorb the consequences. He described the government's response so far as more focused on managing public outrage than establishing the truth.
Separately, the Peter Obi Media Office criticised Alake for engaging in political sparring over Obi's record as Anambra governor instead of addressing the miners' deaths. In a statement by spokesman Idris Zekeri Jnr, the office said Alake should instead be answering direct questions: who authorised the mining enforcement operation, what safeguards were in place, who failed, and who will be held accountable.
"A minister overseeing a sector at the centre of such a tragic episode is busy trying to create a distraction," the statement said.
Alake has separately deployed a ministerial team to Niger State to investigate the circumstances of the deaths, and the Federal Government has constituted a 10-member independent committee to examine the arrests, detention, and circumstances surrounding the tragedy.
President Tinubu has ordered a full and transparent investigation, with medical, forensic, and autopsy examinations reportedly underway to establish the actual cause of death, a question this outlet flagged as unresolved when the story first broke, given the conflicting explanations of disease outbreak versus suffocation in an overcrowded facility.
What began as a tragic custodial incident has now become a live flashpoint in Nigeria's pre-2027 political battles, with two of Tinubu's most prominent potential challengers, Atiku and Obi, both using the case to press the administration on executive accountability.
With the cause of death still officially unconfirmed and the independent probe ongoing, the case's political weight appears set to grow well beyond Niger State in the weeks ahead.
More on Niger State