Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, has disclosed that 67 artisanal and suspected illegal miners were detained in a Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps cell before 37 of them died in custody, as investigators examine overcrowding, possible suffocation and exposure to hazardous substances as potential causes of the tragedy.
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Bago spoke to journalists in Minna on Friday as medical, forensic and security investigations intensified into the deaths, which occurred after the miners were arrested during NSCDC operations around the M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto areas of Niger State on September 15 and 16, 2026.
The NSCDC had initially said that “scores” of detained suspects were found dead in the early hours of September 17 following what it described as a suspected disease outbreak. The Corps subsequently clarified that the actual cause had not been established and that medical and laboratory examinations would be required to determine what happened.
Giving the state government’s preliminary understanding of the incident, Bago said all 67 arrested miners had been placed in the NSCDC cell, raising the possibility that overcrowding and inadequate ventilation resulted in suffocation.
“The first one is that the office of the Niger State Civil Defence arrested 67 artisans and illegal miners and put them in their cell,” the governor said.
“So probably they died of suffocation. Probably the second one is exposure to certain poisons or poisoning substances on the field.”
Bago stressed, however, that these remained possibilities under investigation and that no final conclusion had been reached on the cause of death.
The governor said medical, forensic and biological teams had been deployed to collect samples and provide scientific evidence to the committee investigating the deaths.
He also disclosed that specialists were examining whether the miners might have been exposed to radiological materials or other hazardous substances at the mining site, making it necessary to consider both their detention conditions and possible occupational exposure before determining the cause of death.
Bago called for the autopsies, laboratory tests and examinations of samples recovered from the mining site and detention facility to be concluded quickly, saying the death of 37 people was too serious to be treated casually.
“Even at times of war, if you kill 37 people, is not a small number,” Bago said.
He added that there was a need “to expedite action in the autopsies that are being done, in the samples that are being taken at the scene and also by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps on the actions of their men who made the arrest.”
The governor’s disclosure comes amid accounts from survivors who have alleged severe overcrowding and difficulty breathing inside the detention facility.
One survivor told journalists that detainees were “jam-packed” in a cell without adequate ventilation and struggled to breathe before some of those inside began collapsing. Another survivor alleged that an unidentified substance with a perfume-like smell was sprayed inside an overcrowded cell shortly before detainees began falling down. Those accounts remain allegations under investigation and have not yet been established as the medical cause of the deaths.
The survivor’s account regarding the unidentified substance adds another issue for investigators to reconcile with the NSCDC’s initial suggestion of a disease outbreak and the state government’s consideration of possible suffocation or hazardous exposure.
Bago also used the incident to call for greater emphasis on responsible mining, saying miners needed appropriate protective equipment and continuous education about the hazards associated with mining activities.
“It is very important to understand that responsible mining must be the way forward where miners will have to use protective gears and also a lot of advocacy by the ministry must be done and must be continuous where people don’t understand the danger and the consequences of mining,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police Force has opened a separate investigation into the deaths. Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu visited Niger State on Friday and said investigators would “leave no stone unturned” in establishing the circumstances that resulted in the deaths of the 37 detainees.
The Federal Government has also suspended the Niger State NSCDC Commandant, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, pending investigation into the incident and the conduct of personnel involved in the arrests and detention.
President Bola Tinubu has separately ordered a full investigation and directed that any officials found responsible for wrongdoing in connection with the deaths be prosecuted.
For now, authorities have cautioned against reaching conclusions until the autopsy, forensic, biological and other scientific examinations are completed.
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