Politics
By Anthony Isibor
THIRTY-SEVEN miners were taken into the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, alive.
And by Thursday, September 17, they were dead.
The miners were arrested during the enforcement operations against suspected illegal mining around the M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto areas of Niger State on September 15 and 16. What followed has become one of the most disturbing episodes in Nigeria’s recent debate over policing, illegal mining and the treatment of suspects in state custody.
The official explanation initially offered by the NSCDC was suspected disease outbreak. But that account has been contradicted by conflicting accounts from survivors, families, the Niger State Government and human-rights groups.
There were reports that dozens of detainees had been held in an overcrowded cell with poor ventilation. One survivor, Dauda Shehu, told the Associated Press that about 65 people were packed into the cell and that detainees struggled to breathe.
Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago has since said that some of the bodies had blood or foam around the mouth and that some had burns. He said possible explanations being examined included suffocation and poisoning, but stressed that the cause had not been established.
The government maintains that the detainees were arrested in an operation against illegal mining.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in ordering a full investigation, acknowledged that suspected involvement in illegal mining did not remove the detainees’ right to life and humane treatment.
“The fact that these individuals were suspected of illegal mining does not in any way remove their right to life, dignity and humane treatment while in government custody,” Tinubu said on September 18.
He directed investigators to examine how the arrests were made, the condition of the detainees when they were arrested, the conditions in which they were held, the number of people detained, the medical attention provided and what happened before their death.
He also said that any official whose action, abuse or negligence contributed to the deaths should be arrested and prosecuted.
“The suspension of officers is only an administrative step and must not substitute for a proper determination of criminal responsibility where the evidence warrants prosecution,” he said.
The Niger State NSCDC commandant, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, was suspended as the investigation began. The NSCDC, police, Department of State Services and Niger State Government have all announced investigations or investigative committees.
But multiple investigations will mean little if the process cannot independently establish what happened inside that detention facility.
Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the tragedy is the age of some of those detained.
According to Governor Bago, some of the dead were between 14 and 18 years old and had been working in mines rather than attending school. Reuters also reported that many of the victims were children.
A separate report by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism said a witness claimed that a seven-year-old was among the dead. That claim has not been independently established by the authorities and should therefore remain subject to verification.
If children were among those arrested and detained, another set of questions arises: who authorised their detention, how were their ages established, were their parents or guardians contacted and what child-protection safeguards were applied?
The answers will be important not only to this investigation, but to the broader problem of children entering dangerous informal mining operations.
The reaction has since spread well beyond Minna.
Reacting to the incident, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar called for an independent, thorough and transparent investigation, saying the findings should be made public and anyone responsible through action, abuse or negligence should be held accountable.
“The families of the deceased deserve more than condolences. They deserve the truth. They deserve justice,” Atiku said.
Also, Peter Obi has demanded answers, arguing that the fact that those arrested were suspects did not deprive them of their rights.
“Whatever offence they were suspected of committing, they were still human beings,” Obi said, adding that the responsibility of the state was to keep people in its custody alive, safe and treated humanely.
SERAP went further, asking United Nations special rapporteurs to intervene over the deaths and reports of lethal force against protesters in Minna.
It said that deaths in custody should be investigated promptly, independently, impartially and transparently. It also called for accountability, remedies for victims’ families and measures to prevent a recurrence, including better training, operational rules, command accountability and independent oversight of law-enforcement agencies.
HURIWA similarly argued that the NSCDC should not be left to investigate itself because its personnel had custody of the victims. It called for an independent judicial or multi-agency inquiry involving forensic pathologists, medical experts, the National Human Rights Commission and civil society representatives.
It also demanded preservation of detention records, CCTV footage, medical records, duty rosters, arrest records and communication logs.
The National Human Rights Commission has called for an independent forensic autopsy and preservation of evidence.
The handling of the bodies has also created another difficult question.
According to Reuters report, the victims were buried on Thursday in accordance with Islamic tradition, before the cause of death was established. That has raised concerns about the difficulty of conducting complete forensic examinations afterwards.
There is, however, some conflicting reporting about the extent of the forensic process. Earlier reports said the bodies had been taken to Minna General Hospital for medical examination, while Governor Bago later said samples had been taken from some victims before burial and that forensic examinations, medical examinations and autopsies were being conducted.
The controversy over the burial therefore should not be reduced to whether an autopsy was technically possible afterwards. The larger question is why a mass death involving 37 people in government custody was not first subjected to a clearly documented forensic protocol before burial.
If religious considerations required rapid burial, the authorities still needed a system for obtaining the necessary samples, documenting injuries and preserving other evidence before interment.
The investigation has also acquired a political dimension following a survivor’s allegation that the mining site belonged to former military Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.
According to reports, one of the survivor identified as Babawo Tudun Nasera said in an interview that the miners had been told to continue working at the site and identified Babangida as its owner.
However, Babangida, through his representative, rejected it as false, baseless and completely without foundation, saying he had no connection with the mining operation.
There is therefore the need to establish who holds the mining licence or title connected to the site, who operates it, who finances the operation, who buys the extracted minerals and whether any politically connected individuals or companies have interests in it.
The controversy has also attracted attention outside Nigeria.
Dr Karl Von Batten, writing on X, referred to the deaths in the context of his criticism of President Tinubu and alleged that “paramilitaries loyal to that same Nigerian president” had murdered “hungry teenagers” for illegal mining.
The post also linked the Niger deaths to claims concerning Tinubu’s legal dispute in the United States over alleged FBI records. Those claims are separate from the immediate investigation into the 37 deaths and should not be treated as proof of responsibility for what happened in Niger State.
What is independently established is that the detainees died in NSCDC custody and that the government has ordered an investigation. What caused their deaths, whether anyone unlawfully contributed to them and whether any wider network benefited from the mining operation remain questions for evidence.
The deaths expose problems beyond the NSCDC facility.
Nigeria has spent years battling illegal mining. The government says unauthorised mining causes environmental damage, deprives the state of revenue and can intersect with organised crime and insecurity.
But enforcement cannot become a substitute for regulation.
If poor Nigerians are arrested at mining sites while the financiers, licence holders, mineral buyers and politically connected interests behind illegal operations remain unidentified, enforcement will continue to target the most visible people at the bottom of the chain.
The answer also cannot be to abandon enforcement.
It is to make enforcement lawful and professional.
Every detention facility used during mining operations should have a verified maximum capacity. No security agency should be permitted to place dozens of detainees into a room incapable of safely holding them.
Detainees should receive medical screening on arrival. Children should be identified immediately and handled under applicable child-protection procedures. Detention registers should be electronic where possible. CCTV footage should be preserved automatically. Officers should have clear procedures for responding to mass illness, heat stress, poisoning, suffocation or other emergencies.
Deaths in custody should automatically trigger an independent investigation, with evidence preserved before bodies are released for burial wherever circumstances permit.
And illegal mining investigations must move beyond the miners themselves.
The authorities should trace the ownership of mining sites, licences, equipment, financing, mineral buyers and export chains.
Its credibility will depend on whether it also establishes why they died, who knew what was happening, what was done to save them, and whether anyone will be held responsible.
A.I
Sept. 19, 2026
Tags: Anthony Isibor Atiku Abubakar Dauda Shehu Dr Karl Von Batten NSCDC President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Suberu Siyaka Aniviye