Niger State Governor, Umaru Bago, has said some of the results of investigations into the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) are expected within five days.
Bago said, however, that some of the tests could take between 10 days and two weeks, depending on the nature of the examination and the availability of laboratory facilities.
Speaking during an interview on Friday, the governor said some of the deceased had been released for burial, while others remained at the mortuary as medical examinations and autopsies continued.
He explained that those identified as Muslims were released to their families for burial after samples had been collected from their bodies, while the other bodies remained at the mortuary for further examination and autopsies.
“The medical team of Niger State have already taken samples of all those that has symptoms of poison or whatever, and those that are not Muslims amongst them are still in the mortuary and autopsy’s are being done upon them.
“Before those people were released, samples of their skin, sputum and other samples were taken by the medical team for analysis, and the DSS is part of the team who are doing this job,” he said.
Bago said the tests and autopsies were being conducted to establish the cause of the deaths, adding that it was still necessary to determine whether the deaths were linked to suffocation, poisoning or exposure to hazardous substances.
He also disclosed that the state government was not informed before the NSCDC operation that led to the arrest and detention of the suspected illegal miners, saying neither he nor the state Ministry of Homeland Security was briefed ahead of the operation.
Bago said the incident had exposed the need to review coordination between federal and state security agencies, particularly in operations involving arrests and detention within the state.
He stressed the need for the state government to have better access to information about people detained by federal security agencies in the state, especially to ensure their welfare and enable the government to respond when issues arise.