The Federal Government has formally inaugurated a 10-member independent investigative committee to unravel the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners while in the custody of the Niger State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), with a warning that no officer found culpable will be protected from disciplinary or criminal consequences.
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Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, inaugurated the committee in Abuja on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, describing the incident as one of the most disturbing custodial tragedies in recent memory and declaring that government institutions must never become places where people lose their lives.
The committee is chaired by retired Deputy Director-General of the State Security Service, Jonathan Kure, while former Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Prof. Isa Hayatu Chiroma, serves as secretary.
Other members are retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police Hosea Hassan Karma; Professor of Histopathology and former Chief Medical Director of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Prof. Olayinka Buhari; representatives of the Minna Emirate Council and Niger State Government; National Secretary of the Miners Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Liman Sulaiman; lawyer and human rights activist Deji Adeyanju; Blueprint Newspaper’s Zainab Suleiman Okino; and public affairs analyst Dr George Agbakahi. The panel had earlier been constituted following President Bola Tinubu’s directive for a comprehensive and transparent investigation.
Tunji-Ojo said the Federal Government received reports on September 17 that 37 persons detained over suspected illegal mining activities had died while in NSCDC custody.
The victims had been arrested during enforcement operations carried out on September 15 and 16 around the M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto areas of Minna.
Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago later said 67 artisanal and suspected illegal miners had been held at the NSCDC facility before 37 of them died. The precise medical cause of the deaths has not yet been established.
The NSCDC initially referred to a suspected disease outbreak, but survivors and relatives subsequently raised questions about overcrowding, ventilation and other conditions inside the detention facility. Those competing accounts remain under investigation and no definitive medical cause has yet been announced.
Tunji-Ojo said the government owed the families of the deceased and Nigerians a truthful account of what happened, stressing that persons taken into state custody remain entitled to protection of their lives and human dignity.
“No life should be lost in the custody of the State,” the minister said, adding that security agencies were expected to perform their duties professionally and with respect for human rights.
He expressed condolences to the families of the deceased as well as the government and people of Niger State, describing the deaths as a painful national incident requiring an investigation free from obstruction or institutional interference.
Following Tinubu’s directive, Tunji-Ojo had earlier ordered the suspension of the Niger State NSCDC Commandant, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, alongside officers connected with the arrest, investigation, legal, station and guard duties around the period of the incident.
The Ministry of Interior initially identified 20 officers in addition to the suspended commandant as affected by the suspension pending investigation.
The NSCDC subsequently widened its internal process and said 24 personnel, including the suspended state commandant, had been taken into protective custody at its national headquarters in Abuja for interrogation and administrative disciplinary proceedings, after additional officers were identified in connection with the case. The disciplinary and investigative measures do not, at this stage, amount to findings of criminal guilt.
Tunji-Ojo said the independent committee’s first responsibility would be to establish the identities of all the deceased and reconstruct the circumstances of their arrest, transportation, detention and eventual deaths.
The panel is also mandated to determine, through appropriate medical and forensic examinations, the cause and manner of each death.
It is expected to establish whether negligence, misconduct, complicity, abuse of authority, dereliction of duty or other breaches occurred during the arrest and detention of the victims.
Where wrongdoing is established, the committee is to recommend appropriate disciplinary or other measures against those responsible.
It has also been asked to recommend compensation where applicable and propose institutional safeguards to prevent a recurrence.
The committee has been granted authority to co-opt specialists whose expertise may be required, including medical, forensic and other technical professionals.
It may access relevant NSCDC and government facilities, obtain documents and records, visit locations connected with the arrests and deaths, commission or examine forensic evidence and receive memoranda from members of the public.
Tunji-Ojo gave the panel two weeks to complete its investigation and submit its findings and recommendations.
He also directed the leadership of the NSCDC and all officers connected with the matter to cooperate fully and make relevant records, materials and personnel available to investigators.
The minister issued a specific warning against interference with evidence.
He said any attempt to destroy, alter or conceal documents or physical evidence, intimidate witnesses or otherwise obstruct the committee would be treated as a serious offence.
“To Nigerians, I say this: we owe you the truth. This Committee will give you the truth. No officer, no matter how highly placed, will be shielded if found culpable,” he said.
The investigation is running alongside other inquiries into the incident.
The Nigeria Police Force has taken over and cordoned off the scene connected with the deaths and commenced its own investigation following a directive from the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu.
Niger State Commissioner of Police Adamu Elleman directed personnel to secure the area as investigators began examining the circumstances surrounding the deaths.
The National Human Rights Commission has also commenced a preliminary investigation and called for an independent forensic autopsy, preservation of evidence and transparency in all official inquiries.
Its Executive Secretary, Tony Ojukwu, stressed that people arrested on suspicion of offences remain entitled to their fundamental rights while in government custody.
The incident has attracted calls for accountability from the Nigerian Bar Association, Amnesty International, the Northern Senators Forum and other civil society and human rights organisations.
The NBA has urged authorities not merely to announce investigations but to ensure that they are independent, thorough and followed by disclosure of findings and accountability where evidence establishes wrongdoing.
Rights groups have similarly called for the cause of death to be established through credible forensic procedures and for anyone found criminally responsible to face prosecution rather than solely internal administrative sanctions.
The deaths also triggered protests in Minna, prompting the Niger State Government to impose restrictions as demonstrations and confrontations heightened tensions in the state capital.
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, has separately called on relevant authorities to ensure that any person indicted by credible investigations is prosecuted, stressing that the deaths should not end with administrative inquiries alone.
Adeyanju, who is serving on the federal committee, has said he joined the panel to help protect the interests of the victims and establish the truth, while stating that he would not accept an honorarium for participating in the assignment.
Responding on behalf of the newly inaugurated committee, Kure described the assignment as a call to national service rather than an ordinary appointment.
He pledged that members would approach the investigation with open minds and would not allow sentiment, outside interests or media pressure to determine their conclusions.
Kure said the committee intended to complete its work with its integrity intact and base its conclusions on the evidence placed before it.
With several parallel investigations now under way, attention will centre on the forensic determination of how the 37 detainees died, the conditions under which they were held, whether warnings or distress signals were ignored, and whether any officer’s action or omission contributed to the tragedy.
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