Eleven Nigerian miners who were trapped in the Central African Republic (CAR) have expressed deep gratitude to the federal government for stepping in quickly to save them.
Speaking on behalf of the group in Abuja, Mr. Freeborn Igorigo thanked President Bola Tinubu for making their rescue a priority and for giving them a warm, respectful welcome back home.
The miners said they were taken to CAR by a Nigerian agent working with a Chinese partner. Before their rescue, they had released a viral video pleading for help.
In that video, the visibly weak and exhausted miners revealed they had been left without pay for 11 months despite being hired for mining work.
Igorigo shared that their time in CAR was filled with life-threatening experiences. They faced constant harassment from armed soldiers, endured beatings, were arrested without cause, and suffered from poor living conditions.
Many of them now have health problems caused by dangerous mining work and accidents in the forest.
He explained that he had worked for the company for three years and had been in CAR since September 2024. He was the one who recorded and shared the viral video after witnessing Chinese workers being evacuated while the Nigerian workers were abandoned in dangerous isolation.
When they tried to leave with the Chinese workers, they were stopped and threatened by armed men.
Igorigo thanked the media, the public, and everyone who helped raise awareness of their situation. He said the rescue was made possible through the combined efforts of Nigeria’s ambassador to CAR, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Department of State Services, and the National Emergency Management Agency.
Sadly, the miners returned home with nothing to show for their hard work. Their employers had withheld nine months’ worth of salaries, sometimes giving them small amounts of money to keep them calm, but never delivering the full payment promised.
Igorigo stressed that while they were now safe, their rescue was just the first step. He urged the government to help them recover the money they earned and to ensure that such exploitation of Nigerians abroad does not happen again.
Following the viral video, the Nigerian Embassy in CAR and security forces quickly located the miners and escorted them on a long journey from their remote work site to the country’s capital city, Bangui.
On Thursday, they arrived safely in Abuja aboard an Asky Airlines Boeing 747-200 aircraft, touching down at exactly 4:45 pm.
They were welcomed at the airport by a federal government delegation led by the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency, Mrs. Zubaida Umar, who was represented by Air Commodore Kenneth Oyong, Director of Search and Rescue.
