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Survivors of the deaths of 37 suspected illegal gold miners in Niger State have recounted how overcrowding and poor ventilation allegedly left detainees struggling for air inside a Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps cell.
The miners died on Thursday while in NSCDC custody in Minna, the Niger State capital, triggering protests and unrest in parts of the city. The Federal Government has suspended the state NSCDC commandant and ordered a full investigation into the incident.
Speaking from a hospital in Minna, one of the survivors, Dauda Shehu, said detainees repeatedly raised the alarm as conditions inside the cell deteriorated.
“We were jam-packed in the cell, no ventilation for us to breathe well,” Shehu told journalists.
“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.”
He added: “Several times, we raised alarm that some people are already dying because of suffocation, nobody answered us.”
Another survivor, who declined to give his name, said his position close to the entrance helped him survive as other detainees struggled for air.
“We were screaming for help,” he said, adding that detainees told guards that “people are dying one after the other, they did not believe us”.
An intelligence report seen by AFP indicated that overcrowding and inadequate ventilation may have contributed to the deaths, although the NSCDC initially attributed the incident to disease.
The circumstances surrounding the deaths remain subject to the government’s investigation.
The incident sparked unrest in Minna, with protesters blocking a major road and attacking a transport depot, while police fired to disperse the crowds.
Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago subsequently imposed a night-time curfew in the city to contain the situation.
The Interior Minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, announced the suspension of the Niger State NSCDC commander, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, pending the investigation.
“A full investigation will be conducted while the commandant under whose watch this happened remains suspended,” Tunji-Ojo said.
Niger State is a major mineral-producing area where thousands of artisanal miners operate, while illegal mining has also been linked by officials and experts to criminal activity around gold-producing communities.
