Deaths in detention: CSOs, Falana seek probe, justice for 37 miners, others - The Guardian Nigeria News

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have called for a thorough investigation and justice for the 37 miners who died in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

The call came just as some stakeholders bickered over the culpability of the Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, and the Commandant-General of the NSCDC, Ahmed Audi.

Among the groups calling for a probe into the deaths are the Youth Arise Movement (YAM), Women in Mining Nigeria (WIMIN), the Federation of Nigerian Mining Host Communities (FNMHC), and human rights lawyer Femi Falana.

A Yoruba group, Yoruba Ronu, rather urged the Presidency to hold the Minister of Solid Minerals, Alake, responsible, as the deaths occurred within an enforcement structure established to combat illegal mining. The Coalition of Civil Societies for Transparency and Accountability (COCSTA) rejected calls to remove the Commandant-General of the NSCDC.

Meanwhile, Governor Mohammed Bago, while speaking to journalists in Minna after the three-day prayer for the repose of the souls of the 37 miners at Tunga Central Mosque, yesterday, disclosed that those in NSCDC detention were not all miners.

Niger State gubernatorial candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mohammed Kpautagi, has called on state governors to stop frequenting Abuja for political reasons and concentrate on serving their people.

While contending that the tragic incident was an avoidable loss, Kpautagi said it could be traced to gross negligence and failure of duty, stressing that no citizen should lose his life in a government detention facility that was intended to secure and reform.

WIMIN also urged for reforms of detention facilities nationwide, while Falana, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), called on the Attorneys-General of Niger and Ondo states to ensure the prosecution of suspects linked to separate incidents that led to the deaths of scores of Nigerians in custody and through a suspected toxic outbreak.

Similarly, Avocats Sans Frontières France (ASF France) has called for an independent investigation into the deaths of 37 persons.

The organisation expressed grave concern over reports of severe overcrowding, inadequate ventilation and delayed access to assistance at the facility.

COCSTA described the call by a lawyer and human rights activist, Hamza Dantani, for the termination of Audi’s tenure as misguided and an unnecessary distraction from ongoing investigations into the incident.

In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday, COCSTA National Coordinator, Bilal Galadima, said the group sympathised with the bereaved families, stressing that anyone found culpable after the investigations should face the full weight of the law.

The coalition said the deceased were among more than 50 persons arrested during operations conducted by the NSCDC on September 15 and 16, 2026, around the Lt. Gen. Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi Housing Estate in Minna.

The suspects had not been charged before the incident because profiling and documentation were still ongoing.

COCSTA said available information indicated that the Niger State Commandant, Suberu Aniviye, did not inform the Commandant-General about the arrests before the deaths occurred.

The group argued that it would therefore be premature to hold the head of the entire corps responsible for an alleged operational lapse at a state command without first establishing the facts through the ongoing investigations.

The Federal Government had suspended the Niger State NSCDC Commandant and constituted a 10-member committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

The coalition urged Nigerians and government agencies to allow the investigations to run their course, saying the findings should determine responsibility and appropriate sanctions.

CONVENER of YAM, Ademola Babatunde, in a statement, noted that the reported deaths of the suspects before the allegations against them could be fully investigated raised questions that required urgent and credible answers.

The movement urged the Federal Government to establish an independent investigative mechanism to determine what happened, including the circumstances surrounding the arrests, conditions of detention, medical and welfare arrangements available to the suspects, as well as the immediate and underlying causes of their death.

It also called on the government to consider involving the Department of State Services (DSS), alongside other appropriate independent authorities, to ensure public confidence in the investigation and prevent any agency from investigating itself.

YAM said while the fight against illegal mining must remain a priority, enforcement of the law should not become a justification for violating human dignity or allowing unexplained deaths of persons in government custody.

YORUBA Ronu Leadership Forum, in a statement signed by its President, Akin Malaolu, yesterday, urged President Bola Tinubu to suspend Alake, accusing the minister of presiding over a system that allegedly placed detainees’ lives at risk.

But the circumstances surrounding the deaths remain the subject of official investigation, as the tragedy has produced conflicting accounts of what happened inside the detention facility.

The Niger State NSCDC command initially attributed the deaths to a suspected disease outbreak, saying medical examination would be required to establish the actual cause of death. The police subsequently opened an investigation.

However, survivors gave a markedly different account, alleging that detainees were packed into an overcrowded and poorly ventilated cell.

It was against this backdrop that Yoruba Ronu demanded accountability from the Federal Government.

Malaolu said the organisation was disturbed by what it described as the unclear circumstances surrounding the deaths and by the conflicting accounts of how and where the detainees died.

According to him, the victims were Nigerians who were struggling to survive, and their status as suspects of illegal mining could not remove the state’s obligation to protect their lives after arrest.

The group particularly questioned the reported conditions in which the detainees were held, describing the alleged use of poorly ventilated accommodation as unacceptable.

IN a statement, Founder and National President of WIMIN, Janet Adeyemi, said the deaths underscored the need for the government to move away from aggressive militarisation towards a human-centred approach to artisanal mining.

WIMIN expressed condolences to the families of the deceased, particularly women who lost sons, brothers and breadwinners, noting that reports that some of the victims were teenagers aged between 14 and 18 made the incident more devastating.

The organisation faulted the reported conditions under which the detainees were held, saying accounts from survivors and intelligence reports pointed to overcrowding, extreme heat, dehydration and suffocation in a poorly ventilated facility.

ON his part, Falana urged the Attorney-General of Niger, Nasiru Mu’azu, to direct a thorough investigation into the death of 37 detainees.

However, reacting to the Niger and Ondo incidents, Falana called for a prompt investigation by the state police command and the immediate prosecution of any official found culpable, stressing that the incident underscored the persistent problem of inhuman detention conditions across the country.

He recalled a similar tragedy in 1980, when about 50 suspects suffocated in a police transport van, popularly known as ‘Black Maria’, at the Tinubu Magistrate Court in Lagos, noting that such incidents continued despite public outcry.

In a related development, he called on the Attorney-General of Ondo, Dr Olukayode Ajulo (SAN), to take over and prosecute suspects arrested in connection with a deadly outbreak linked to suspected contaminated local beverages.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) had confirmed that 48 persons died out of 182 reported cases following the consumption of locally prepared alcoholic and herbal mixtures in parts of Ondo.