Nigerians on social media have expressed anger over the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Minna, Niger State. 

A viral 40-second video showed the lifeless bodies of the victims, most of whom are teenagers, packed on the ground after they were arrested during enforcement operations around Lt. Gen. Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi Estate in Minna.

Condemning the deaths on X, @lee_zamba said, “Arrest all those civil defence corps first and their bosses let everybody go and do jail so they can learn,” while @aminuumar123 wrote, “This APC government,  anyhow u look at it na so so disaster.”

@abbey_m44229 wrote, “You didn’t give them job, that is why young children that suppose to be school, jump into mining. What a sad country.”

“37 just like that & the governor is still having is job. The animal kingdom seems like a better place to live than Nigeria,” @PraiseOg2014 noted. 

“How did 37 people die in custody? This should be an impeachable offence, requiring dismissal and resignations,” @oziOmuha stated.

“Honestly those people were killed ni, they are covering something big,” @BabtundeA43153 suspected, while @FavNaijaGuy also alleged that, “It’s simple someone wanted them dead and it’s clear that the custody was compromised probably by an insider.”

President Bola Tinubu on Friday, however, ordered a full and transparent investigation into the deaths, insisting that the life of every Nigerian matters.

He noted that no citizen should lose his life while in government custody as a result of negligence, abuse, inhumane treatment or dereliction of duty.

Mr Tinubu also stated that the NSCDC commandant in the state, Suberu Aniviye, and his team had been suspended to allow  a proper probe into the incident.

Following the order by the president, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, in a statement on Saturday, announced a panel to establish the identities of the deceased, investigate their arrests, detention including the cause and circumstances of their deaths.

Mr Tunji-Ojo said the other suspended NSCDC officers include, O/C Station Guard, SC Usman Isah Ndamaka; Station Guard, ASCI Hassan Mohammed; Station Guard, CCA Bala Mohammed; Arresting Officer/O/C Investigation, CSC Oluwadare Sunday; Arresting Officer, DCC Obafemi Elvis; Arresting Officer, CSC Annas Shitto Lamino; HOD INT/INV, DCC Philip Ajayi; O/C Legal, ACC Barr. Stephen Tsado; Day/Night Duty Officer, ASCI Alhassan Mohammed; Guard Duty, IC Abdullahi Sale; and Guard Duty, IC Mohammed Sonfada.

Others are Guard Duty, CAI Liman Abubakar; Guard Duty, CAI Bala Usman; Guard Duty, IC Mohammed Jiya; Guard Duty, DSC Isah Suleiman; Guard Duty, CAI Ahmed Wushishi; Guard Duty, IC Sale Adamu; Guard Duty, IC Haruna Mohammed; Guard Duty, ASCI Aliyu Sallah; and Guard Duty, CAI Isah Sanusi.

The deaths of the detained miners had sparked protests and unrest in parts of the city on Thursday, prompting Governor Umaru Bago to declared a 24-hour curfew in Minna, which took effect immediately after the Friday’s Jumu’ah prayers and would remain in force until further notice.

Stating that the cause of the deaths had yet to be officially ascertained, and was too early to conclude, the governor stated that the state government constituted a committee of inquiry to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths. 

He noted that possible causes being investigated included suffocation arising from overcrowding in the detention cell and exposure to hazardous chemicals associated with illegal mining, adding that forensic examinations, medical examinations and autopsies were being conducted to establish the scientific cause of the deaths.

The Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, during a visit to Mr Bago at the Government House in Minna, to commiserated with the state government and families affected by the incident, reaffirmed the determination of the Nigeria Police Force to establish the circumstances surrounding the deaths 

Mr Disu said he was in the state to visit the scene of the incident and oversee a thorough investigation into the deaths, in collaboration with the NSCDC, the state government’s committee of inquiry and other relevant agencies.

A survivor among the detained miners, Dauda Shehu, narrated their ordeal at the NSCDC detention facilty to journalists saying, “We were jam-packed in the cell, no ventilation for us to breathe well

“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, but obody answered us.”

Another survivor, who asked not to be named, stated that he was still alive because he was beside the cell entrance where he could breathe better, adding that, “We were screaming for help,” and telling the guards that “people are dying one after the other, they did not believe us.”

Another survivor, Babawo Tudun Nasera, while recounting the arrest and death of his 17-year-old brother, Salim, who was among the miners, said they were arrested at the site and remained in NSCDC custody for three days before the deaths were discovered.

According to the survivor, the authorities wanted the miners to stop working at the site but the owner of the site, who he alleged was a former military despot, Ibrahim Babangida, insisted that they continued working.

He said, “They wanted us to stop working at the site, even though the owner of the place said that we should continue working.”

Asked by journalists who the owner of the mining site was, he replied, “It belongs to Babangida.”

When further asked by journalists to clarify which Babangida he meant, he said General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (retd), popularly called IBB.