At least 37 individuals suspected of illegal mining have died while in custody in Nigeria’s north-central Niger State, prompting a state of mourning and an official inquiry. Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago confirmed the deaths on Thursday, describing the event as “tragic” and announcing a three-day period of mourning.
The governor established a committee of inquiry and postponed the launch of election campaigning for the scheduled January polls. Local police have also launched their own investigation, urging relatives of the deceased to come forward with information.
The victims were detainees held by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC). Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, the NSCDC head for Niger State, stated that the arrests occurred on Tuesday and Wednesday. While the agency suspects the deaths resulted from disease, Aniviye confirmed that the bodies were sent to a local hospital for medical examinations to determine the exact cause.
However, preliminary intelligence suggests the fatalities may have been caused by overcrowding and inadequate ventilation. Dauda Shehu, a survivor of the incident, told the Associated Press that approximately 65 detainees were packed into a single cell with poor airflow. “We were jampacked and there was no ventilation for us to breathe well,” Shehu said, adding that detainees began scrambling for air and banging on doors to alert guards.
A video circulating online showed dozens of young men, many appearing to be teenagers, lying dead. Volunteers in gloves were seen standing over the bodies as veiled women attempted to identify their relatives.
Niger State, which spans more than twice the area of Belgium, is rich in minerals including gold, tantalite, copper, and lithium. The state attracts thousands of artisanal miners, but officials and experts warn that the competition for gold in illegal mines is fueling violence from criminal gangs known locally as bandits. These groups reportedly tax miners and demand a portion of the extracted ore in exchange for access to the pits.
Is anyone actually going to be held accountable, or will this just fade into another ignored statistic? The pattern is always the same.
As a survivor myself, I can confirm it was horrific. Disease may be part of it, but overcrowding is the real killer here.
Thirty-seven lives lost in a detention cell is unthinkable. Why were they packed like this in the first place?