A Call for Holistic Investigation, Accountability, Child Protection and the Immediate Inauguration of a Niger State Task Force on Child Labour
By Kalejaiye Olasunkanmi
For NACTAL, Niger State
The Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL), Niger State, expresses deep sadness, outrage and grave concern over the reported deaths of children and other detainees in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), following operations around suspected illegal mining activities in Niger State.
The reported deaths, particularly where children are alleged to have been among those detained, are deeply disturbing. NACTAL extends its sympathy to the families and communities affected by this tragedy and calls for a transparent, independent, comprehensive and holistic investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths.
At the same time, NACTAL is deeply concerned by reports that children were found working at mining sites. This is not merely a labour issue; it is a serious child-protection concern.
Children must not be used as labourers in dangerous mining operations. Children belong in school, in safe learning environments and in age-appropriate skills-development programmes—not in mining pits.
CHILDREN BELONG IN SCHOOL, NOT IN MINING PITS
NACTAL Niger State strongly condemns the use of children as labourers in mining sites.
Mining is inherently hazardous and can expose workers to dangerous machinery, heavy loads, unsafe pits and tunnels, dust, chemicals, collapsing structures and other serious occupational risks. The Nigeria Child Labour Survey 2022 specifically identifies working below ground in mining wells, tunnels and other confined spaces among workplace hazards experienced by children in labour.
For children, exposure to such environments is particularly unacceptable because it can affect their health, safety, education and development.
The International Labour Organization’s standards on child labour make clear that hazardous work is work likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children. Nigeria has ratified ILO Convention No. 138 on minimum age and Convention No. 182 on the worst forms of child labour.
NACTAL therefore rejects any attempt to normalize the presence of children in mining communities or to present mining as an acceptable vocation for children.
Mining is not a substitute for education. Mining is not a childhood occupation. And poverty must never become a justification for exposing children to life-threatening work.
WHAT NIGERIAN LAW SAYS ABOUT CHILD LABOUR
Nigeria already has laws and policies designed to protect children from exploitation and hazardous labour.
The Child Rights Act 2003, particularly Section 28, prohibits forced or exploitative labour involving children and restricts the employment of children in ways that can harm their physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. It also prohibits children from being required to lift, carry or move heavy things likely to affect their development.
Niger State has also enacted its own Child Rights Law 2010, providing a state-level legal framework for the protection of children’s rights and welfare. Research on the implementation of the Niger State law identifies mechanisms including child-rights implementation structures and provisions dealing with child exploitation and protection.
Nigeria’s obligations are further strengthened by its ratification of relevant international child-labour conventions.
The urgency of implementation is demonstrated by the findings of the Nigeria Child Labour Survey 2022, conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with the ILO. The survey estimated that 24,673,485 children aged 5–17 were engaged in child labour, while 14,390,353 were involved in hazardous work.
These figures demonstrate that child labour is not a marginal problem. It is a national child-protection challenge requiring coordinated action at federal, state and community levels.
Nigeria has also moved into a new phase of its national response. In 2026, stakeholders validated the National Child Labour Policy and National Action Plan for the Elimination of Child Labour 2026–2030, designed to strengthen coordinated action, monitoring, education interventions, social protection, support for vulnerable families and responsible business conduct.
Niger State should therefore ensure that its response to child labour is aligned with this national direction.
NACTAL CALLS FOR THE IMMEDIATE INAUGURATION OF A NIGER STATE TASK FORCE ON CHILD LABOUR
In view of the present circumstances, NACTAL Niger State calls on the Niger State Government to immediately inaugurate and adequately resource a State Task Force on Child Labour.
This task force should not be established merely as another committee without adequate resources, authority or measurable responsibilities.
It should serve as a functional coordination mechanism bringing together the relevant ministries, departments and agencies responsible for:
- Labour and employment;
- Education;
- Women affairs and child development;
- Justice;
- Health;
- Mineral resources;
- Youth development;
- Social welfare;
- Security and law enforcement;
- Technical and vocational education;
- Local government administration; and
- Other relevant child-protection stakeholders.
Civil society organizations, workers’ organizations, employers’ organizations, traditional institutions and other relevant stakeholders should also have appropriate representation.
WHY NIGER STATE NEEDS A CHILD LABOUR TASK FORCE
- Child labour has multiple causes
Children do not enter hazardous work for one reason alone. Poverty, family vulnerability, school exclusion, unemployment, lack of livelihood opportunities, social norms and demand for cheap labour can all contribute.
Government therefore needs a coordinated response that addresses both the supply and demand sides of child labour.
- Mining communities require continuous monitoring
Rather than waiting until children are discovered at mining sites after an enforcement operation, government should develop a proactive monitoring mechanism for communities where mining and other hazardous activities take place.
The task force should identify child-labour hotspots, conduct regular monitoring and coordinate interventions.
- Prevention must come before tragedy
The state should not wait until a child is injured, trapped, exploited or killed before action is taken.
Prevention requires early identification, community sensitization, labour inspection, school enrolment, family support and effective enforcement.
- Children removed from labour need rehabilitation
Simply removing children from mining sites without addressing why they entered those sites will not solve the problem.
Children identified in hazardous labour should be assessed and supported to return to school or, where appropriate and legally permissible, receive structured skills development through legitimate and accredited institutions.
- Government agencies must work together
Child labour involves education, labour, family welfare, poverty, security, justice and economic development.
A dedicated task force can ensure that these institutions do not work in isolation.
NACTAL DEMANDS A HOLISTIC INVESTIGATION INTO THE MINING OPERATION
NACTAL calls for a holistic investigation into the mining operation where children were reportedly found working.
The investigation should establish:
- Who owns or controls the mining site?
- Who was operating the site?
- Who recruited or permitted children to work there?
- How many children were working at the site?
- What ages were the children?
- What specific jobs were they performing?
- How long had they been working there?
- Who paid them or benefited financially from their labour?
- Were parents, guardians, recruiters or intermediaries involved?
- Were government authorities previously aware of the presence of children at the site?
- Were there previous complaints or reports about child labour at the location?
- Were appropriate health and safety standards being observed?
- Were the mining operations properly authorized?
- Did any person knowingly facilitate, encourage or profit from the employment of children?
Where the investigation establishes violations of Nigerian law, appropriate legal action should be taken in accordance with due process.
NACTAL particularly emphasizes that investigation should not stop at the children or their parents.
The focus must also be placed on the adults and businesses that create the demand for child labour.
A child working in a dangerous mining environment is vulnerable and requires protection. The investigation must also establish whether mine owners, operators, contractors, recruiters, intermediaries or other persons knowingly enabled or benefited from the situation.
INVESTIGATE THE DEATHS IN NSCDC CUSTODY
NACTAL also calls for a full, transparent, independent and holistic investigation into the deaths reportedly occurring in NSCDC custody.
The investigation should establish the complete chain of events, including:
- The circumstances of arrest;
- The age and identity of each detainee;
- The transportation and admission process;
- The conditions of detention;
- Availability of food and clean water;
- Access to medical attention;
- The number of people detained;
- The level of supervision;
- The circumstances preceding each death;
- The medical and forensic findings; and
- Any other factor that may have contributed to the deaths.
NACTAL is not interested in prejudging the outcome of the investigation.
We are interested in the truth.
Where wrongdoing, negligence, abuse or failure of duty is established by competent authorities, those responsible should face the appropriate consequences under the law.
The fact that a person has been arrested or detained for suspected involvement in illegal mining does not remove that person’s right to humane treatment.
Where children are involved, the responsibility of authorities to observe child-protection standards is even more important.
CHILDREN IN CONFLICT WITH THE LAW REMAIN CHILDREN
NACTAL urges all law-enforcement and security agencies to remember that a child remains a child regardless of the circumstances in which the child is found.
A child found at a mining site should first and foremost be treated as a child requiring protection.
Children should not be treated simply as criminals or sources of intelligence.
The appropriate authorities should determine their circumstances, protect them from further exploitation and facilitate their rehabilitation and reintegration.
This is why a child-protection approach must accompany enforcement activities in communities affected by illegal mining and child labour.
PARENTS AND GUARDIANS MUST ALSO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
While NACTAL calls for government action and accountability from employers and mine operators, parents and guardians must also take responsibility for protecting their children.
Parents should not knowingly send or permit their children to work in dangerous, exploitative or indecent jobs.
We recognize that many families are facing economic hardship. We also recognize that poverty can place parents under enormous pressure.
However, sending a child to a mining site may expose that child to serious injury, hazardous substances, physical exploitation, school dropout and other long-term consequences.
The immediate income received from child labour cannot be compared with the long-term value of a child’s education, health, safety and future.
Parents must therefore make every effort to keep their children in school.
Where a young person needs practical skills, parents should explore legitimate and accredited Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) centres rather than dangerous and unregulated workplaces.
TVET IS NOT CHILD LABOUR
NACTAL supports quality technical and vocational education as an important pathway for young people to acquire practical skills.
However, society must clearly distinguish between structured, accredited vocational education and child labour.
A young person receiving appropriate technical education in an accredited institution, under qualified supervision and in compliance with applicable age and child-protection requirements, is fundamentally different from a child being sent into a mining pit to perform hazardous work for income.
Parents should therefore encourage their children to patronise accredited TVET centres and legitimate skills-development programmes.
Government should equally expand access to quality TVET opportunities so that young people can acquire employable skills without being exposed to dangerous labour.
MINING MUST NOT BECOME A NORMALIZED CHILDHOOD ACTIVITY
NACTAL wants to make this position clear:
Mining should never be normalized as a childhood occupation.
The fact that a community possesses mineral resources does not mean children should participate in extracting those resources.
Children should not be introduced to mining as a means of livelihood at the expense of their education, health and safety.
The adults who own and operate mining businesses have a responsibility to ensure that children are not recruited, employed or permitted to participate in hazardous mining activities.
Community leaders, traditional rulers, religious leaders, youth organizations, civil society organizations and residents also have a role to play in changing attitudes that tolerate child labour.
Where children are observed working at mining sites, community members should report the situation to the appropriate authorities and child-protection organizations.
EDUCATION MUST REMAIN THE FIRST PRIORITY
NACTAL Niger State reiterates:
CHILDREN ARE TO BE IN SCHOOL, NOT IN MINING PITS.
Education is one of the most effective ways of protecting children from exploitation and preparing them for productive adulthood.
Keeping children in school is therefore not only an education policy; it is also a child-protection strategy.
Government must continue to address the barriers that prevent children from attending and remaining in school, including poverty, insecurity, inadequate infrastructure and other socioeconomic factors.
Parents and guardians must also recognize that education is an investment in the future of their children.
Where formal academic education is not the most suitable pathway for a particular young person, quality, accredited and age-appropriate technical and vocational education should be encouraged.
What must not happen is for children to be pushed from school into hazardous labour.
NACTAL’S IMMEDIATE CALLS TO THE NIGER STATE GOVERNMENT
NACTAL Niger State calls on the Niger State Government to:
- Immediately inaugurate a functional State Task Force on Child Labour with clear terms of reference, adequate funding and measurable responsibilities.
- Conduct a statewide mapping of child-labour hotspots, particularly in mining communities and other hazardous sectors.
- Strengthen labour inspection and child-protection monitoring in high-risk communities.
- Investigate the owners, operators, contractors and recruiters connected with mining sites where children are found working.
- Take appropriate legal action where investigations establish violations of child-labour laws.
- Conduct a holistic and transparent investigation into the reported deaths in NSCDC custody, including the circumstances of arrest, detention and death.
- Ensure that the identity, age and circumstances of affected children are properly established and documented.
- Provide appropriate protection, rehabilitation and educational reintegration for children removed from hazardous labour.
- Strengthen community-based child-labour monitoring and reporting mechanisms.
- Expand public awareness campaigns in mining communities on the dangers and legal consequences of child labour.
- Strengthen access to quality and accredited TVET opportunities for young people, while ensuring compliance with minimum-age and child-protection requirements.
- Support vulnerable families through appropriate social-protection and livelihood interventions, so that poverty does not push children into hazardous labour.
- Strengthen collaboration among government agencies, civil society, security agencies, traditional institutions, schools, parents and community leaders.
- Ensure that the state’s child-labour response is aligned with Nigeria’s National Child Labour Policy and National Action Plan 2026–2030.
A COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY
The fight against child labour cannot be left to government alone.
Parents must protect their children.
Employers must obey the law.
Mining operators must keep children away from hazardous operations.
Community leaders must reject the normalization of child labour.
Traditional and religious leaders must speak against child exploitation.
Schools must remain safe and accessible.
Civil society organizations must continue to monitor and advocate.
Security agencies must respect the rights and dignity of persons in their custody, particularly children.
And government must provide the leadership, resources, monitoring and enforcement necessary to make child protection a reality.
The present situation should be treated as a wake-up call.
We must not wait until another child is injured, trapped, exploited or killed before taking child labour seriously.
The reported deaths in custody and the reported involvement of children in mining should compel every stakeholder to ask difficult questions and take concrete action.
CONCLUSION
NACTAL Niger State condemns the exploitation of children in mining and expresses profound concern over the reported deaths of children and other detainees in NSCDC custody.
We call for truth, justice, accountability and comprehensive child protection.
We call on the Niger State Government to immediately inaugurate a State Task Force on Child Labour with the resources and authority required to coordinate sustained action against child labour.
We call for a holistic, transparent and credible investigation into the deaths in NSCDC custody and the circumstances surrounding the detention of those who died.
We call for a thorough investigation of the owners, operators, contractors, recruiters and other adults who may have enabled, facilitated or benefited from the use of children as labourers in mining sites.
We appeal to parents and guardians not to expose their children to hazardous and indecent forms of employment.
We encourage parents to keep their children in school and, where appropriate, guide them towards accredited TVET centres and legitimate skills-development opportunities, rather than dangerous and unregulated workplaces.
Most importantly, NACTAL Niger State reminds the public:
CHILDREN ARE TO BE IN SCHOOL, NOT IN MINING PITS.
A society that protects its children protects its future.
NACTAL Niger State remains committed to working with the Niger State Government, relevant federal agencies, communities, parents, schools, security institutions, civil society organizations and other stakeholders to eliminate child labour and ensure that every child in Niger State has the opportunity to learn, develop safely and live with dignity.
Signed:
Kalejaiye Olasunkanmi
For NACTAL, Niger State