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Fawaz Adebodi
A survivor of the deaths of at least 37 alleged illegal miners in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps in Minna, Niger state, has recounted harrowing conditions inside the detention facility, claiming that extreme heat and overcrowding left detainees fighting for their lives..
The survivor, identified as Dauda Shehu, said 66 detainees were crammed into a small cell where they would struggle to breathe amid the suffocating heat.
He said inmates repeatedly pleaded with officers to open the cell, but their pleas were allegedly ignored until some of them became severely dehydrated.
The situation, according to the survivor, had become so desperate that some inmates resorted to drinking their own urine to survive.
“The heat was terrible. I swear, the heat was unbearable. We were suffering from the extreme heat,” another survivor said.
“The heat and sweating killed many of our people. I swear. The heat was so intense that even when you sat down, you would be drenched in sweat. There was sweat everywhere inside the cell. It got to the point that we were drinking our own urine.”
The reported deaths followed the arrest of miners at a gold mining site after a dispute over payment for mine shafts.
Shehu said the miners were working at the site when some villagers summoned them to the palace to discuss the required payment for the pits.
He said the miners were informed that each mine shaft attracted a payment of N150,000.
“We told them that some of our colleagues had already come and paid 150,000 naira for their wells and that they should allow us to continue working,” Shehu said.
“Later some people came and told us that since payment had not been made for all the wells, we could not continue working.”
According to him, the disagreement ultimately led to their arrest.
Shehu said the arrest came after the miners had worked all day.
“We worked until after morning prayer. At about 3:00 pm, I was sitting there while one of my brothers went to the pit to work. I got up and went to pray,” he said.
“When I returned, we suddenly saw some people coming to us. The people who normally work with us, our colleagues, came and told us to come to the palace so we could discuss the matter again.”
He said the miners were willing to make the payment when they had the means.
“We told them that some of our colleagues had not yet come to pay for their wells. They said yes. We told them that if God had given us the means, we would also come to pay for our wells.
“They agreed. We heard them, but we tried to go back to the mosque.”
Asked whether the people who came to them were responsible for their arrest, Shehu said: “Yes, the people who came were the ones who arrested us. They just came and arrested us.”
Shehu said 66 people were detained together, although the facility was allegedly incapable of accommodating such a large number.
“We were 66 people inside,” he said.
“Six of us were taken to the hospital. We don’t know how many people they took away because only six of us were brought here.”
The survivor said the inmates were not physically attacked but blamed the deaths on conditions inside the cell.
Asked whether the detainees had been beaten, shot or poisoned, Shehu replied: “There was no beating. When they took us there, no one beat us. It was the heat.”
He added: “The cell they took us to was very small. We told them there were too many people inside. We spoke to them repeatedly, but they didn’t listen to us.
“We started knocking on the cell door, but it didn’t break. We could hear and see our fellow inmates dying. We told them that our fellow inmates were dying, but they thought we were lying.
“They didn’t hit us. It was the heat that hit us.”
Another survivor confirmed the account of unbearable conditions, saying inmates were drenched in sweat as the temperature inside the cell became increasingly difficult to bear.
“There were many bodies. It wasn’t just one or two. Some of them were dead already in the morning,” the survivor said.
He said inmates tried to alert officers of the death through the small opening in the cell.
“We were close to the door. There was only a small opening, but it wasn’t enough. We tried to show them what was happening, but the door was already overcrowded.”
Describing the psychological impact of the accident, he said: “As I stand here now, honestly, I don’t know what to say. My workmates are dead. I’m devastated. Those who were close to us are gone and we don’t know what will happen next.”
Survivors said that despite the tragedy, many of those involved in mining had few alternative sources of income.
Asked whether he would continue digging, one of them said: “We have no choice. This is the only work through which we get what we eat.”
Miners have reportedly migrated from Allawa to the area in search of livelihood opportunities.
A relative of one of the detainees, identified as Abdullahi, said his son, Salim, was among those arrested at the gold mining site.
Abdullahi said Salim was responsible for providing food and other basic needs to the family.
“I have a son named Salim. He is the one who goes out looking for what we will eat, both day and night. He went out three days ago, and that’s when I learned that he had been arrested,” he said.
According to him, Civil Protection officers arrested his son at the mining site.
“We came and tried to resolve the issue with them. They told us that it was not the right time. We had come here for three days. Yesterday we brought them food,” Abdullahi said.
He said the family returned to the facility with food the following day, only to encounter dead bodies.
“Today, when we returned to bring them food, we found dead bodies,” he said.
When asked how many bodies they had seen, he said there were many, although they had already been moved to another location.
“There were many bodies. They had taken them away to another place,” he said.
He added that four people were also taken away.
The family is demanding justice
Abdullahi called on the government to investigate the incident and establish the circumstances of the death.
“My appeal is to the government and people around the world to demand justice. Whatever the cause of this tragedy, it has brought suffering because these people have nothing else to do,” he said.
She maintained that her son was not a criminal but worked to support the family.
“First, the government has not provided jobs to these young people. When they go out in search of food and bring something home, it is not an added benefit to us; it is what we survive on,” he said.
“Honestly, I’m just a security guard. This guy was the one who fed us. He was the one who provided us with food and drinking water. He would go out, find something, come back and give it to his mother.”
He said Salim had worked at the mine site for about two years.
“He never insulted anyone. He never argued with anyone. He had been doing this job for about two years.
“Why should his rights be violated? Even though he worked in that place, it was what he did to survive. He didn’t steal or insult anyone.”
The reported deaths raised questions about the conditions in which the suspects were detained and the authorities’ responsibility to protect those in their custody.
However, the precise number of deaths, the circumstances of each death and the medical causes have not been established independently of the available material.
The NSCDC’s response to the allegations was not contained in the material reviewed by PLATFORM TIMES.
An independent investigation, including detention records, medical reports, post-mortem findings and reports from the NSCDC and other relevant authorities, would be needed to establish what happened to the detainees and the circumstances of their deaths.
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