Nigeria: Niger Miners' Saga - NSCDC Death Cell Cleaned to Destroy Evidence, Probe Panel Member Says

What the report says

A member of Nigeria’s federal investigation committee has alleged that a Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps detention cell in Minna, Niger State, was washed, disinfected and renumbered after 33 suspected illegal miners died there. Deji Adeyanju, a lawyer and human rights activist on the 10-member panel, said the cleaning was meant to erase evidence after the deaths in NSCDC custody. The claim was published by Premium Times and carried by AllAfrica.

The deaths happened in September after arrests during anti-mining operations in Minna. According to the reporting, the committee was set up on 19 September after President Bola Tinubu ordered a full investigation. Niger State NSCDC Commandant Suberu Aniviye and 20 other officers were later suspended in connection with the incident.

Adeyanju said the committee’s report had already been submitted and that it recommended prosecution of officers implicated in the deaths, along with broader reforms in the NSCDC. The Interior Minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, said the panel found the deaths were preventable and caused by overcrowding, poor ventilation, heat and dehydration rather than a disease outbreak. He also said the report had been sent to the Attorney-General for further action.

The allegation that evidence was destroyed has not been independently verified in the report cited by Premium Times, and the full committee findings were not publicly available at the time of publication.