Thirty-seven prisoners died while in custody in Niger State
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Survivors of a Nigerian prison cell where 37 suspected illegal gold miners died in paramilitary custody this week have described their panic and struggle to breathe. On Friday, police fired teargas at protesters demonstrating against the deaths and imposed an overnight curfew in the city of Minna.
The victims, many of them children, were discovered dead on Thursday in cells run by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). The force had raided suspected illegal gold mines and detained dozens of miners in Minna, the capital of mineral-rich Niger State.
The NSCDC, a paramilitary body that works alongside the police, first attributed the deaths to a disease outbreak. However, an intelligence report reviewed by Agence France-Presse (AFP) indicated that preliminary findings pointed to overcrowding and poor ventilation.
Governor Umar Bago said many of the dead were aged between 14 and 18 and had been working in the mines rather than attending school. "There are issues of illegal mining and it is taking a toll on our children," he said.
Dauda Shehu, a survivor, spoke to journalists at a hospital on Friday: "We were jam-packed in the cell, no ventilation for us to breathe well. All of a sudden we realised that we could not breathe and we were all scampering for where to get fresh air, we even appealed to them several times, banged the cell door, but they refused to answer us."
A video circulating online showed the bodies of dozens of young men, dressed only in shorts and mostly appearing to be teenagers, lying on the ground in the open. Volunteers in gloves stood over the bodies while veiled women searched for their relatives among the dead. Voices cursing those responsible could be heard in the background.
AFP reported that another survivor, who requested anonymity, lived because he was close to the cell entrance, where breathing was easier. "We were screaming for help," he said, adding that detainees told the guards that "people are dying one after the other. They did not believe us."
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered an investigation into the deaths, after his government suspended several senior officials.
Protests erupted in Minna on Thursday evening. On Friday, dozens of young people, including miners and their relatives, assembled near the NSCDC office in the city. Police sealed off the area and used teargas to disperse the crowd.
A Reuters witness reported that security forces fired live rounds as protesters called for justice. Some carried sticks, machetes and traditional hunting rifles, and some attempted to set fire to government buildings in the Tunga neighbourhood. "We are not thieves – we are simply seeking a way to make a living by mining," said Yusuf Auwal, a miner who joined the demonstration, to Reuters. At least one body was seen lying in the street. Soldiers and police patrolled Minna in an effort to restore order.
By the time the curfew took effect at 6pm local time on Friday, security forces appeared to have restored calm, at least temporarily.
The NSCDC said the detainees were arrested in raids on suspected illegal mines in the Wushishi-Lukoto area, west of Minna, on 15 and 16 September. Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo ordered the immediate suspension of the state's NSCDC commandant, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, pending the outcome of the investigation.
Niger State is Nigeria's largest state, at more than twice the size of Belgium. It is rich in minerals and draws thousands of artisanal miners, most of them attracted by gold.
Neither the police nor the NSCDC initially gave a precise death toll. The state governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, later confirmed that 37 people had died.
"It's so sad, it's so tragic," he said, adding that an inquiry was already under way. He declared three days of mourning and postponed the start of campaigning for elections scheduled for January. According to Islamic tradition, the men were buried on Thursday, without any forensic examination.
Officials and experts say the competition for gold from illegal mines in Niger State is fuelling violence by criminal gangs. The gangs tax miners and demand a share of the extracted ore as a fee for access to the pits.
According to a 2024 Swissaid report, most illegally mined gold is smuggled to the United Arab Emirates, where it is laundered into global supply chains in Europe, the US, Asia and South Africa.
Besides gold, Niger State holds deposits of tantalite, copper and lithium, which are in strong demand for electric vehicles and clean energy technology.
© AFP
