The fact that 37 people died while in custody on suspicion of engaging in illegal mining has made it one of the most alarming custody cases that Nigeria has had to deal with in recent years. The suspects were detained in Niger State and were discovered to have died in a cell operated by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). Since then, various accounts have been given by authorities, survivors, and investigators regarding the cause of their deaths.
How the arrests unfolded
The Niger State command of the NSCDC stated that it conducted a “burst operation” against illegal mining on 15 and 16 September 2026, with the arrests occurring at the Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi Housing Estate and in Lukoto village, and that evidence was recovered. According to Daily Trust, among the dead were some teenagers and a number of people who were internally displaced and came from communities in the Shiroro Local Government Area.
On Thursday, September 17, in the early hours, the state commandant stated that a number of the detainees had been found dead as a result of what was believed to be an outbreak of disease and that the bodies had been taken to the General Hospital in Minna for further medical examination.
A hospital staff member told reporters that management had not been officially informed in advance and had not permitted the bodies to be taken into the mortuary; the corpses had come from the NSCDC command headquarters by two ambulances.
The disease explanation
At first, the Corps attributed the situation to a possible disease outbreak; the state commandant, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, named diphtheria as the suspected illness. However, that explanation was not accepted for long, and the Corps subsequently stated that the real cause had not been determined and that medical and laboratory tests would be required.
At a press conference in Minna on Thursday, Governor Umar Bago confirmed the number of deaths as 37; however, he stated that no official cause had been determined and that it was too early to reach any conclusions.
What survivors say
The most serious challenge to the disease theory has come from those who were inside the cell. Dauda Shehu stated to the Associated Press that 65 detainees had been crowded into a poorly ventilated room, a situation which indicated that the people might have died from suffocation.
From his position on the hospital bed, he provided a more detailed version of what happened. He stated that 66 people were placed in a single cell, that they were not tortured although the heat was intense, and that their complaints regarding the size of the room were ignored. He also said that the detainees drank their own urine since they had no access to water. At the time of admission, six survivors were present.
One survivor went even farther and claimed that an unidentified substance had been sprayed into the cell before the detainees started to fall. However, that claim has not been verified. As local reports have emphasized, it, together with the other allegations, is still under investigation and should not be regarded as an accepted explanation.
The toxic exposure question
The governor has left a number of possibilities untouched. He stated that the investigators were considering suffocation caused by overcrowding and possible exposure to poisonous substances associated with mining operations. Teams from the medical, forensic, and biological fields have been sent to gather samples.
According to an AFP intelligence report, overcrowding and poor ventilation might account for the deaths; since the detainees had just been at the mining sites, exposure to chemicals or fumes is something that investigators cannot overlook. It will only be decided by laboratory tests.
Nigerian readers will recall that mining sites can be dangerous even on their own; in February 2026, at least 37 miners died of carbon monoxide poisoning in a deserted lead mine in Plateau State. That was a different incident with a cause that had nothing to do with the other one, and the fact that the number of deaths matched has led to some online confusion.
Confusion over the numbers
The early accounts gave varying numbers; some stated that 33 of the suspects had died, whereas later reports stated the figure was 37. The governor claimed that 67 suspected illegal miners had been detained, of whom 37 had died. The survivors, however, provided slightly lower figures, saying the number of people in the cell was between 65 and 66. The precise number of people inside the cell is likely to be a key issue in the investigation.
Government response
A quick action has been taken at the federal level. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Interior Minister, has suspended the commandant of Niger State and has instructed a thorough inquiry to be carried out. Later on, Ahmed Audi, the Commandant General of the NSCDC, asked the state commandant and the heads of his departments to step down and report to the national headquarters in Abuja.
President Bola Tinubu has likewise commented on the issue. He described the deaths as a serious matter which needed an immediate investigation and accountability, and directed that no officer should interfere with the inquiry. In his statement, he said that the pursuit of one kind of illegality must never result in another. It is reported that he also instructed that any officials found to have contributed to the deaths should be prosecuted.
Other bodies are looking into the case too:
- The NSCDC has established a panel of its own to look into the suspects’ condition when they were arrested, how they were treated while in detention, the state of the facility, and the medical care they received.
- The Nigeria Police Force has initiated a separate inquiry.
- The government of Niger has set up a committee to inquire into the matter.
- Tunji-Ojo has gone to Niger State, leading a federal delegation, to offer his condolences to the governor and to the families.
Grief and anger in Minna
Families and residents went to Minna General Hospital to demand explanations, and a number of the protesters called for criminal charges to be brought if negligence is proven. The governor declared three days of mourning. A few of the bodies have now been handed over to their relatives.
The bigger picture on illegal mining
The state of Niger has gold as a key resource, and as a result a large number of small-scale miners, many of them coming from poor areas, move there. The authorities regard the mining activity as a security issue and analysts have connected the illegal mining in the north-central and northwest areas with armed gangs which carry out kidnappings for ransom and who are in part financed by the illegal trade.
Which is why enforcement will not cease. Yet this situation does pose a difficult question regarding the way in which it is carried out. Even though people who are in custody are protected by the state regardless of what they are accused of, a crackdown that results in dozens of deaths within a single cell does not meet that test, and the president’s own comments on the subject show this.
The results of the autopsy and the forensic investigation are the essential missing elements; until these are made public, the cause of death cannot be confirmed and all of the possible explanations, namely the disease, suffocation, heat exposure and toxic exposure, remain unresolved. It will be up to the findings of the federal, police, NSCDC and state investigations whether any individuals are to be prosecuted.
