Eleven Nigerian miners stranded in the Central African Republic (CAR) have expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu and the federal government for rescuing them after months of hardship. Speaking in Abuja, Freeborn Igorigo, who represented the group, said they were given a warm and dignified reception upon arrival back home.
The miners had earlier raised alarm in a viral video, showing their distressed condition after being abandoned without pay for 11 months. They revealed that they were lured to CAR by a Nigerian agent in collaboration with a Chinese national, only to face severe exploitation and neglect in the remote forest where they worked.
Sharing their ordeal, Igorigo said they endured assaults, threats from armed soldiers, imprisonment without cause, and health risks from hazardous working conditions. He disclosed that while Chinese workers at the mining site were evacuated, Nigerians were left behind in isolation and danger. He was the one who recorded the video that drew public attention to their plight.
The rescue was achieved through joint efforts by Nigeria’s ambassador to CAR, the National Security Adviser, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). The returnees were flown back to Abuja and received by a federal government delegation led by NEMA officials.
Despite their safe return, the miners lamented that they were coming home empty-handed as their employers withheld nine months’ salaries. Igorigo appealed to the government to help them recover their wages, stressing that failure to act would only embolden more companies to exploit Nigerians working abroad.
