Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A family in Niger State is demanding answers and justice after the body of their 30-year-old relative, Yakubu Hassan, was found in a mortuary a week after he was arrested during a security raid on an illegal mining site in the Federal Capital Territory. The family has alleged that his body bore signs of torture, including burn injuries and gunshot wounds, and has called on the authorities to investigate the circumstances leading to his death.
Yakubu Hassan, a resident of Rafin-Sanyi community in Suleja, Niger State, left home on a Tuesday to participate in artisanal mining activities in the Bamburu community, Gwagwalada Area Council of the FCT. According to his elder brother, Abubakar Hassan, Yakubu was primarily a herder but occasionally engaged in mining alongside his friend, Danjuma Saminu. However, two days after he left, the family lost contact with him. They later learned that a joint security team had raided the mining site and arrested about 14 miners.
After making inquiries, the family was told that the arrested miners were taken to the Zuma Military Barracks along the Kaduna Road in Suleja before being handed over to personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Abuja. However, while 13 of the arrested miners were released on bail after spending a day in military custody, Yakubu’s whereabouts remained unknown. The family, with the assistance of an Abuja-based human rights activist, Comrade Nura Muktar, began a desperate search for him.
The family's concern deepened after some of the released miners told them they had all been blindfolded while being transported to the military barracks and were unable to account for Yakubu when the blindfolds were removed. The family visited several police divisions in search of him but found no trace until they eventually located his body at the mortuary of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Hospital in Sabon-Wuse about a week later.
According to Abubakar Hassan, his brother’s body bore burn injuries on different parts as well as gunshot wounds to the abdomen and leg. "We cannot understand why he was allegedly tortured to death," he said, adding that the deceased’s mobile phone and other personal belongings were missing. The family is now demanding a thorough investigation into the incident and has called on the government to ensure that those responsible for his death are brought to justice.
Speaking on the matter, human rights activist Comrade Nura Muktar said one of his colleagues visited the Zuma Military Barracks to make inquiries but was told there was no record of such an operation. Similar inquiries at the NSCDC headquarters and at a military barracks in Gwagwalada also yielded no information about Yakubu’s whereabouts until Friday, when they received information that his body had been deposited at Sabon-Wuse Hospital. According to Muktar, hospital officials informed them that the body had been deposited more than a week earlier by a military officer reportedly attached to the Zuma Military Barracks. The officer’s name and telephone number were recorded in the hospital’s documentation. When hospital officials contacted the officer, he allegedly authorised the release of the body to the family.
The family has since buried Yakubu Hassan after the police division in the area was notified. However, the circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear, and the family has called on the government to ensure that those responsible for his death are brought to justice. When contacted, the National Public Relations Officer of the NSCDC, Assistant Commandant of Corps Babawale Afolabi, said he would make inquiries into the matter and respond. However, he had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.
The death of Yakubu Hassan has raised serious questions about the conduct of security operations and the treatment of suspects in custody. The incident also highlights the dangers faced by artisanal miners in Nigeria, who often operate in a legal grey area and are vulnerable to abuse by security forces. As the family continues to seek justice, the government and relevant authorities are under pressure to conduct a transparent investigation and ensure that those responsible for the death of Yakubu Hassan are held accountable.
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