Miners’ Deaths: Governor Reveals New Details as Probe Underway
MINNA, Nigeria — The circumstances surrounding the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in the custody of Nigeria’s Civil Defence Corps have deepened into a major investigation after Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago revealed new details about the condition of the bodies and an alleged substance sprayed inside the detention facility.
Speaking to the BBC, Bago said the state government was not informed when the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) arrested and detained the miners during operations against illegal mining in Minna.
He said officials were alerted after the deaths and found the detainees with alarming physical symptoms.
“Some, we saw with their skin peeling. Some, we saw them swollen. Some with foam in their mouth, some bleeding from nose and mouth,” Bago said.
The bodies were subsequently taken to Minna General Hospital, where the governor said autopsies and samples were taken for laboratory analysis to establish the cause of death.
The deaths occurred after NSCDC operations on September 15 and 16 around the M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto areas of Niger State. Authorities say 37 detainees were found dead on September 17. The NSCDC initially suggested a possible disease outbreak but later acknowledged that the precise cause had not been established.
Bago said a survivor who was taken to a Department of State Services facility told authorities that an unidentified substance, resembling perfume, was sprayed inside the cell.
“He came with something like a perfume and sprayed on them, and people started coughing, and people started choking,” Bago quoted the survivor as saying.
A separate survivor account reported by Nigerian media described detainees being packed into a small, poorly ventilated room before an unidentified substance was sprayed. Survivors said people began struggling to breathe and calling for help.
The identity of the substance has not been established, and there is currently no confirmed forensic finding linking it to the deaths.
Bago previously said investigators were considering several possible explanations, including suffocation caused by overcrowding and exposure to hazardous substances associated with illegal mining.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive investigation into the incident, saying no Nigerian should die in government custody because of negligence, abuse or inhumane treatment.
On Saturday, Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo announced a 10-member independent investigative committee. He said the committee has two weeks to complete its work.
The Niger State NSCDC commandant, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, had already been suspended. Additional 20 NSCDC personnel involved in the arrest, investigation, custody and guarding of the detainees have now also been suspended pending the outcome of the inquiry.
However, authorities have cautioned that none of these explanations has yet been scientifically established.
The deaths sparked protests in Minna, with demonstrators demanding answers and accountability. Security forces used tear gas to disperse protesters, while Reuters reported that live rounds were also fired during clashes and that at least one protester was reportedly killed.
The controversy has therefore moved beyond the question of illegal mining itself to a broader issue of accountability for people who die while in state custody.
Bago said the NSCDC had legal authority to conduct arrests connected with illegal mining without obtaining his permission as governor. But he acknowledged that the incident exposed the need for stronger supervision and training within paramilitary institutions.
The independent investigation, medical examinations and other evidence are expected to determine whether the deaths resulted from disease, overcrowding, suffocation, chemical exposure, negligence, or another cause.
