Niger State governor, Mohammed Bago, has described the death of 37 people in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) as significant, insisting that the incident must not be treated lightly.
The governor stated this on Friday while addressing journalists in Minna, the state capital.
The Bago disclosed that 67 artisanal and suspected illegal miners were detained in an NSCDC cell before 37 of them died in custody.
According to him, the miners were arrested during NSCDC operations in the M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto areas of Niger State on September 15 and 16, 2026.
The NSCDC had earlier attributed the deaths, which were discovered in the early hours of September 17, to a suspected outbreak of disease.
Bago, however, said authorities were examining other possible causes, including suffocation arising from overcrowding and exposure to hazardous substances associated with mining activities.
“Even at times of war, if you kill 37 people, it is not a small number. So there’s need for us 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,” he said.
Explaining the circumstances surrounding the incident, the governor said the large number of detainees held in the cell could have contributed to the deaths.
“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.
“So probably they died of suffocation. Probably the second one is exposure to certain poisons or poisoning substances on the field,” the governor said.
He said medical, forensic, and biological teams had been deployed to collect samples that would assist the committee investigating the incident.
Bago stressed the need for the autopsies and other examinations to be expedited in order to establish the actual cause of the deaths.
“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.
The governor further disclosed that experts had been deployed to examine the possibility of radiological exposure at the mining site.
He urged caution while investigations into the incident continued, saying the state government and security agencies were working to establish the circumstances surrounding the deaths.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has suspended the Niger State NSCDC Commandant, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, and ordered a full investigation into the incident.
Deaths of 37 people should not be taken lightly, Says Bago
