37 Miners Suffocated In NSCDC Custody, Panel Finds

SituationREPORT – 

An independent investigative committee has found that 37 suspected illegal miners died from asphyxiation while in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, in Niger State, describing the deaths as avoidable.

The committee’s chairman and former Deputy Director-General of the Department of State Services, Jonathan Kure, disclosed this on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, while presenting the panel’s report to the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, in Abuja.

Kure said the committee recommended ₦1.4bn in compensation for the families of 33 victims and 44 survivors. It also recommended the summary dismissal of the Niger State NSCDC commandant and other officers directly involved in the detention of the miners and the circumstances surrounding their deaths.

The panel said the victims, including 14 minors, had been held in inhuman conditions and that their deaths could have been prevented.

It also called for institutional reforms within the NSCDC to strengthen the corps’ leadership and prevent a recurrence.

Receiving the report, Tunji-Ojo pledged to implement the recommendations to ensure justice for those affected. He also directed the NSCDC commandant to immediately suspend officers alleged to have cleaned up the detention centre to destroy evidence.

The findings mark a significant development in the investigation into the deaths, which occurred on September 17, 2026, at the NSCDC Niger State Command in Minna. The victims were among dozens of people arrested during operations against suspected illegal mining in the M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto areas of the state.