Nigeria Sets Up Probe Panel After 37 Miners Die in NSCDC Custody
The panel will examine overcrowding, alleged mistreatment and possible suffocation after 37 detainees died in NSCDC custody, officials said.
- On Thursday, September 17, 2026, 37 suspected illegal miners were found dead in a detention cell in Minna, Niger state, prompting President Bola Tinubu to order a "full and transparent investigation" into the incident.
- The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps initially attributed the deaths to a "suspected disease," but survivors contradicted this, reporting they were crammed into a poorly ventilated cell with barely any air.
- Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo suspended 20 NSCDC officers on Saturday and constituted a 10-member independent committee chaired by retired Deputy Director-General Jonathan Kure to determine "responsibility, complicity, negligence, and misconduct" within two weeks.
- Protests erupted in Minna on Friday as crowds vandalized property and clashed with security forces; authorities imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew to contain the unrest.
- Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar demanded accountability, accusing the administration of turning junior officers into "sacrificial lambs" instead of investigating those who authorized and supervised the operation.
47 Articles
47 Articles
Associated Press News
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37 suspected illegal miners die in custody in Niger state
Thirty-seven people arrested on Tuesday for suspected illegal mining near Borgu in Nigeria's Niger state died two days later inside a detention facility run by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, according to officials. NSCDC spokesperson...
Miners' deaths: NSCDC replaces suspended Niger Commandant
A new Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Abdulhamid Salisu Kabara, has been deployed to the Niger State Command In a statement on Saturday, Public Relations Officer of the Command, DSC Abubakar Rabiu Muti, said Kabara had taken over the leadership of the Command from Commandant Suberu Siyaka Aniviye who is under suspension over the death of 37 artisanal miners in the custody of the Command. Muti said Kabara assum…
Nigeria president orders prosecution over illegal miners' deaths
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has ordered the prosecution of any officials found culpable in the deaths of dozens of suspected illegal miners while in the custody of a security agency in the country's central Niger State.
FG launches probe into 37 deaths in NSCDC custody, suspends 21
Following the deaths of 37 individuals held in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Niger State Command, on suspicion of illegal mining, the federal government has constituted a ten-member committee to investigate the incident. The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed the move on Saturday, following a directive by President Bola […] FG launches probe into 37 deaths in NSCDC custody, suspends 21
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