The Federal Government has escalated its response to the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Niger State, deploying a high-powered investigative team to determine what happened.
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, announced the deployment on Friday, saying the team would work with other investigators to establish the circumstances surrounding the deaths and produce a comprehensive report.
The minister’s intervention followed the suspension of the Niger State NSCDC Commandant, Suberu Aniviye, after the deaths of the detainees in Minna.
Aniviye had disclosed on Thursday that the suspects were arrested during operations conducted on September 15 and 16, but that scores of them were later found dead in the early hours of Thursday following what he described as a suspected outbreak of disease.
Alake said the circumstances surrounding the deaths required a thorough investigation, particularly because the victims had been detained following their alleged involvement in illegal mining.
“Given the allegation that the detained persons were arrested on suspicion of carrying out illegal mining, I have deployed a high-powered team of officials to Niger State to investigate the circumstances and ascertain the facts of the matter,” he said.
He added that the team would collaborate with other investigators to provide a comprehensive report on the incident.
The minister also called for a transparent and independent inquiry, saying such a process was necessary to establish accountability and guard against a recurrence of similar incidents in detention and correctional facilities.
Alake expressed condolences to Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago, the affected families and communities, describing the deaths as a tragedy of significant proportions.
“The loss of any life is a deeply painful occurrence, and a tragedy of this magnitude affects us all,” he said.
The minister commended Bago for his response to the incident, particularly the declaration of a period of mourning and the establishment of an investigative framework to determine the circumstances that led to the deaths.
The deaths have triggered official investigations at both state and federal levels, with authorities expected to establish what caused the fatalities and whether there were lapses in the handling of the detainees.
The development has also placed renewed attention on the conditions surrounding the detention of persons arrested during operations against illegal mining activities, although the precise circumstances and cause of the deaths remain subject to investigation.
