The identities of the 37 suspected illegal miners who died while in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Niger State have emerged, as investigations intensify into one of the country’s most controversial recent custodial-death incidents.
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The victims were among scores of artisanal and suspected illegal miners arrested during NSCDC operations conducted on September 15 and 16, 2026, around the Lt. Gen. Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi Estate and other mining locations in Minna, Niger State.
They were subsequently detained at an NSCDC facility before 37 of them were found dead in the early hours of September 17.
The deaths sparked public outrage, protests, demands for accountability and multiple investigations by federal and state authorities.
The International Human Rights Commission (IHRC), which compiled the names of the deceased, said it initially obtained a list from records at the General Hospital in Minna, where the bodies had been deposited.
Awaisu Giwa, an International Peace Ambassador with the IHRC, said the hospital’s Chief Medical Director authorised a mortuary attendant to provide the organisation with the names.
According to Giwa, the initial hospital record contained 33 names, while four additional names were subsequently added after families whose relatives were missing approached the organisation.
He said the commission intended to obtain a formal version of the list on the hospital’s official letterhead and that the identification exercise would also assist efforts to secure compensation for the victims’ families.
The 37 persons identified are Ibrahim Sani, Fahad Sa’adu, Abdulsalam Ismail, Usman Aliyu, Abubakar Alhaji, Sani Nasir, Sanusi Khalid, Ahmad Aliyu, Safiyanu Abdullahi, Suleiman Dantala, Idris Haruna, Sani Yakubu, Safiyanu Abubakar, Abdullahi Abubakar, Abubakar Musa, Abdul Mudassir, Suleiman Lawal, Usman Abdullahi, Samuel Sambo, Ibrahim Musa, Yusuf Nasiru, Umar Lawal, Isyaku Amisu, Bissallah Adamu, Abdulbari Suleiman, Shafisu Lado, Usman Ahmad, Usman Ibrahim, Sani Isyaku, Musa Ibrahim, Idris Bashir, Kabiru Suleiman and Emmanuel Emeka.
The four additional names which the IHRC said were not contained in the initial General Hospital list are Mu’awiya AbdulKarim, Abdul Gafar Abubakar, Usman Haruna and Yaro Salihu Soba.
The release of the identities comes as questions remain unanswered over precisely what happened between the arrest of the miners and their deaths in custody.
The NSCDC had initially attributed the incident to a suspected outbreak of disease, but the actual medical cause of death has not yet been conclusively established.
Accounts from survivors and relatives have raised allegations about overcrowding, mistreatment and conditions inside the detention facility, but those allegations remain subject to the various investigations now under way.
Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago previously disclosed that 67 artisanal and suspected illegal miners had been taken into custody during the operations, of whom 37 subsequently died.
Bago said the Niger State Government had no prior knowledge of the arrests because the security agencies responsible were controlled by the Federal Government, adding that his administration became aware of the situation after reports of the deaths emerged.
Some of those who survived were taken for medical treatment, while others were reunited with their families after security agencies obtained their statements.
Public anger over the deaths subsequently led to protests in Minna, some of which degenerated into violence and destruction of property.
Bago consequently imposed a 24-hour curfew in Minna on September 18, citing attacks on government property, a bank, political party offices and private businesses during the unrest.
The incident has also triggered action within the NSCDC itself.
Twenty-four NSCDC personnel, including the suspended Niger State Commandant, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, have been taken into custody in connection with the incident and are undergoing interrogation and administrative disciplinary proceedings at the Corps’ National Headquarters in Abuja.
The number initially stood at 21 before three additional personnel were identified and suspended.
NSCDC spokesperson Babawale Afolabi said the affected personnel would also be made available to the Presidential Independent Investigation Committee and other investigative panels for further questioning and possible prosecution where evidence establishes criminal responsibility.
NSCDC Commandant-General, Prof. Ahmed Audi, has promised that due process, transparency and accountability will guide the investigation, maintaining that any officer found culpable will face disciplinary measures and the law.
The Corps also ordered its flag to be flown at half-mast across its formations for three days in mourning for those who died.
The Federal Government has separately constituted a 10-member independent investigative committee to examine the circumstances surrounding the arrests, detention and deaths.
Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has warned that any attempt to conceal evidence, obstruct investigators or interfere with the inquiry would be treated seriously, stressing the need for accountability.
President Bola Tinubu also ordered investigations into the incident and suspended senior NSCDC officials pending the outcome, while stressing that administrative suspension would not substitute for determining legal responsibility where wrongdoing is established.
The Niger State Government has also established its own panel, while calls for an independent investigation have come from civil society organisations, the Nigerian Bar Association, human rights advocates and mining-sector groups.
Families of some of the deceased have similarly demanded justice and answers about the treatment of their relatives between the time they were arrested and when their deaths were announced.
The investigation is expected to establish the immediate and remote causes of the deaths, the conditions under which the detainees were held, whether applicable detention and human-rights standards were observed, and whether any NSCDC personnel or other persons bear criminal or disciplinary responsibility.
For now, the detention of the 24 NSCDC personnel does not amount to a finding of criminal guilt against them, just as the description of the deceased as suspected illegal miners reflects the circumstances of their arrests and not convictions by a court.
The emergence of the names, however, has shifted the tragedy from an anonymous casualty figure to 37 individually identified victims whose families are awaiting the outcome of investigations and possible accountability.
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