Survivors of a detention disaster that left 37 suspected illegal gold miners dead in the custody of a paramilitary group have described scenes of panic as they struggled to breathe inside a packed cell.
The incident, which occurred early Thursday in Minna, triggered rioting in the Niger State capital on Friday, prompting police to open fire to disperse crowds and the state government to impose a nighttime curfew.
The 37 men had been arrested earlier this week during raids by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on suspected illegal gold mines in the Wushishi-Lukoto area, west of Minna, between September 15 and 16. Officials said they were found dead in the early hours of September 17 in the cells of the NSCDC, a paramilitary agency that works with police.
The NSCDC initially suggested a suspected disease outbreak may have been responsible, but survivor testimony and an intelligence report pointed to suffocation.
“We were jam-packed in the cell, no ventilation for us to breathe well,” Dauda Shehu, one of the survivors receiving treatment at a city hospital, told journalists on Friday.
“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. Several times, we raised alarm that some people are already dying because of suffocation, nobody answered us.”
Another survivor, who asked not to be named, said his position near the entrance saved him.
“We were screaming for help,” he said, telling guards that “people are dying one after the other, they did not believe us.”
A 40-second video shared online purporting to show the aftermath of Thursday’s incident featured the bodies of dozens of young men clad only in shorts, many appearing to be teenagers, sprawled on the ground in the open. Reuters filmed 33 bodies at the General Hospital in Minna on Thursday.
The deaths sparked immediate unrest. Witnesses said hundreds of people took to the streets in Minna, blocking a main street and attacking a transport depot. Security forces opened fire as they moved to disperse the crowds. It was not immediately clear whether police were firing anti-riot pellets or live ammunition.
In response, Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago confirmed the 37 deaths at a press conference and announced a nighttime curfew in the city to curtail the unrest.
The Federal Government said it had suspended Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, the state commander of the NSCDC, while the incident is investigated.
“A full investigation will be conducted while the commandant under whose watch this happened remains suspended,” Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said in a statement.
Police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun said the state police chief “has ordered the immediate commencement of investigation into the unfortunate death of suspected illegal miners while in the detention facility of the NSCDC.”
Niger State, which is more than twice the size of Belgium, is rich in minerals and attracts thousands of artisanal miners — most of them lured by the hope of striking gold. Officials and experts say the scramble for gold reserves dug up in illegal mines is fuelling violence by criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, who tax the miners and demand a cut from the extracted ore as a levy to allow them access to the pits.
