37 miners died of suffocation in NSCDC custody — Investigative panel

The Federal Government’s Independent Investigative Committee probing the deaths of 37 persons in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Niger State has found that the deceased died from asphyxiation.

The committee Chairman and former Deputy Director-General of the Department of State Services, Jonathan Kure, disclosed this on Tuesday while presenting the panel’s report to the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, in Abuja.

Kure stated that the panel recommended that one point four billion be paid to the families of 33 victims and forty-four survivors.

The committee chairman added that the deaths were avoidable as the victims, inclng 14 minors, were held in inhuman conditions.

The committee also recommended summary dismissal of the state commandant of the Niger State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and all other officers who were directly involved in the detention and eventual death of the miners

The committee equally recommended institutional reforms for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in order to strengthen the leadership of the corps.

The Minister of Interior, who received the report, promised to implement the recommendations of the committee in order to ensure justice for all affected persons.

Tunji-Ojo also directed the commandant of the Corps to immediately suspend all officers who cleaned up the detention centre in order to destroy evidence.

The finding marks a major development in the investigation into the deaths of the suspected illegal miners, who died on September 17, 2026, while in the custody of the NSCDC Niger State Command in Minna.

The victims were among dozens of persons arrested during operations against suspected illegal mining in the M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto areas of the state. (PUNCH)