The government has disclosed the names of 37 teenage miners who died in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, in Niger State.
Within Nigeria had last week reported that the victims were arrested during anti-illegal mining operations carried out by the operatives of NSCDC in the state on September 15 and 16, 2026.
The deaths, which occurred on September 17, shortly after the arrests, sparked public outrage that led to demonstrations and unrest in the state, during which security operatives opened fire on protesters and killed two people.
The NSCDC had earlier said that they died after a suspected disease outbreak, noting that the bodies were deposited at the General Hospital in Minna for medical examination to establish the actual cause of death.
However, eyewitness and survivors’ accounts of the incidents contradict the official story of the NSCDC. One of the survivors disclosed that the deceased died from a dangerous and harmful chemical substance that was sprayed in congested cells where the miners were detained.
The governor equally said that some of the survivors were taken to the hospital for treatment, while others have been reunited with their families after the Nigeria Police and the Department of State Services (DSS) took their statements.
Below are the names of those who died in the NSCDC custody:
Ibrahim Sani
Fahad Sa’adu
Abdulsalam Ismail
Usman Aliyu
Abubakar Alhaji
Sani Nasir
Sanusi Khalid
Ahmad Aliyu
Safiyanu Abdullahi
Suleiman Dantala
Idris Haruna
Sani Yakubu
Safiyanu Abubakar
Abdullahi Abubakar
Abubakar Musa
Others include:
Abdul Mudassir
Suleiman Lawal
Usman Abdullahi
Samuel Sambo
Ibrahim Musa
Yusuf Nasiru
Umar Lawal
Isyaku Amisu
Bissallah Adamu
Abdulbari Suleiman
Shafisu Lado
Usman Ahmad
Usman Ibrahim
Sani Isyaku
Musa Ibrahim
Idris Bashir
Kabiru Suleiman
Emmanuel Emeka
Mu’awiya AbdulKarim
Abdul Gafar Abubakar
Usman Haruna
Aro Salihu Soba
