37 miners died in custody of Niger’s NSCDC after 67 were held in one cell, Bago Governor said

Niger State Governor, Mohammed Bago, has revealed that 67 suspected illegal miners were detained in cells of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps before 37 of them died in custody.

The miners were reportedly arrested during law enforcement operations conducted by the NSCDC around the MI Wushishi and Lukoto areas of the state on September 15 and 16, 2026.

The deaths, discovered in the early hours of September 17, initially prompted the NSCDC to suggest that an outbreak of disease may have been the cause.

The Corps later clarified that the cause was not yet known, and said that medical and laboratory tests were needed to determine what happened.

Bago disclosed this on Friday while speaking with journalists in Minna as investigations into the incident continued.

The governor said authorities had not yet determined the exact cause of the deaths, but identified overcrowding and possible exposure to hazardous substances related to mining activities among the issues being examined.

“The first was that the Niger State Civil Defense office arrested 67 illegal artisans and miners and put them in cells.

“So it is very likely that they died due to suffocation. Maybe secondly due to exposure to poison or certain toxic substances in the field,” said Bago.

According to the governor, medical, forensic and biological experts have been deployed to take samples from the relevant locations and help the committee investigate the death.

He called for autopsies and other scientific examinations to be carried out without delay so that the circumstances surrounding the deaths can be determined.

Bago also used the incident to emphasize the importance of responsible mining practices, particularly the use of protective equipment and ongoing community education about the dangers associated with mining.

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“It is very important to understand that responsible mining must be the way forward where miners must use personal protective equipment and also a lot of advocacy from the ministry must be done and must be continuous when people do not understand the dangers and consequences of mining,” he said.

The governor said the large number of fatalities meant that an investigation must be carried out thoroughly and immediately.

“Even in times of war, if you kill 37 people, that is not a small number. So we need to speed up the actions of the autopsies that are being carried out, the samples that are being taken at the scene, and also the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps for the actions of the people who carried out the arrests,” he said.

Bago further revealed that experts had been brought in to investigate whether radiological exposure could contribute to deaths at mining sites.

He urged the public to avoid drawing conclusions before the investigation is complete, as state authorities and security agencies continue efforts to find out exactly what happened to the detainees.

NSCDC had previously confirmed that a large number of suspected illegal miners arrested during operations around the MI Wushishi/Lukoto axis were found dead in custody.

The Corps said the cause of death remains unknown and the body has been taken for medical examination.

This incident has sparked action at the federal level, with the Federal Government suspending the Niger State NSCDC Commander, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, and ordering a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death.