Investigations are continuing into the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners held in a Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) cell in Niger State, following claims by a survivor that an unknown substance was sprayed into their overcrowded detention room shortly before inmates began collapsing.
Speaking in Hausa during a televised address broadcast on Channels Television on Friday, the survivor recounted the incident directly to Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago and Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo. He stated that although 17 detainees were initially locked in the small space, officers continually brought in more people despite complaints that the room was too small and hot.
According to the survivor, officers ordered everyone to stand as they prepared to lock up for the night, at which point an agent sprayed a substance resembling perfume into the enclosure. He alleged: “the smell started disturbing everyone in the room, and that’s how people started falling down,” adding that as temperatures soared inside the cell, detainees begged for water, only to be told that “no one would open the door for us that same night,”.
The account emerges as state authorities confirm that a total of 67 artisanal and suspected illegal miners were crammed into the NSCDC facility following enforcement operations in M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto on 15 and 16 September. While the NSCDC originally attributed the deaths on the morning of 17 September to a suspected disease outbreak, the Corps later admitted that comprehensive medical examinations are required to determine the exact cause.