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Govt initiates probe as SERAP, RDI seek investigation of deaths of 37 Niger miners – EnviroNews
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The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr. Dele Alake, has deployed a team of officials to Niger State to investigate the deaths of 37 detained suspected illegal miners.
Alake disclosed this in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Mrs. Lara Owoeye-Wise, on Friday, September 18, 2026, in Abuja.
Some 37 suspected illegal miners were reported dead at a Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) facility in Niger.
The NSCDC Niger Command, in a statement issued by its Commandant, Suberu Aniviye, said it conducted a “burst operation” on Sept. 15 and Sept. 16.
Aniviye said the operation was conducted at M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto Village which led to the arrest of the suspected illegal miners.
He said that, in the early hours of Thursday, scores of the detained suspects were found dead following a suspected outbreak of disease.
While commiserating Gov. Umaru Bago and the people of Niger State over the incident, Alake said the ministerial team would investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths and ascertain the facts of the incident.
“The allegation is that the detained persons were arrested on suspicion of carrying out illegal mining.
“I have deployed a high-powered team of officials to Niger state to investigate the circumstances and ascertain the facts of the matter.
“The team will collaborate with other investigators to provide a comprehensive report on the incident,” he said.
Alake described the deaths as tragic, saying the loss of lives was deeply painful, and the incident affected the entire state.
He commiserated with the bereaved families and communities affected by the deaths, saying his thoughts and prayers were with them during the period of mourning.
The minister commended Bago for declaring a period of mourning and establishing an investigative framework to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
He said a thorough, transparent and independent inquiry was necessary to ensure accountability and prevent a recurrence in detention and correctional facilities.
Gov. Umar Bago of Niger State announced that the state had set up a committee to investigate the root causes of the deaths.
He said the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police Force, and NSCDC had also set up committees to unravel the causes of the deaths.
Bago said his administration valued the lives of citizens and would not tolerate injustice, assuring that the circumstances surrounding the deaths would be thoroughly investigated.
Meanwhile, a Lagos-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), has urged the Federal Government to carry out a detailed investigation into the suspicious deaths of the 37 alleged illegal miners in the custody of the Niger State Command of the NSCDC.
The request is coming on the heels of the incident on Thursday, September 17, 2026, which Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago of Niger State described as “sad and tragic” during a press conference.
The NSCDC had reported that on September 15 and 16, 2026 it carried out a “burst operation” in M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto Village – an area known for small-scale gold mining activities, to curb illegal mining.
Unverifiable sources said that the arrested suspects numbered about 65 and were crammed into the paramilitary agency’s facility. Thirty-seven of them were found dead in the early hours of Thursday, September 17 under conditions that the agency termed “suspected outbreak of disease”.
But in a statement issued in Lagos, the RDI said the NSCDC claim of suspected outbreak of disease was in itself suspicious because it cannot claim expertise in combating illegal mining and also in the work of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) which is tasked with determining disease outbreaks.
RDI Executive Director, Philip Jakpor, said: “The deaths of the artisan miners under the watch of the NSCDC are totally unacceptable. It is not even the responsibility of the agency to build detention centers where victims are crammed to show it is delivering on its mandate. That is supposed to be the function of the Nigeria Police. That is why we insist that this incident cannot be swept under the carpet. We are talking about 37 young men who were hale and hearty when they were apprehended.”
Jakpor stressed that the entire scenario is even more disturbing because the artisan miners are not the big players behind the illegal mining operations across the entire federation that rake in blood profits and are never arrested.
“Arresting artisan miners trying to eke out a living cannot be a big burst when the big players walk freely on the streets. We need to know what the young men were mining; who owns the particular sites where they were apprehended or if the deaths were the silencing of pawns to shield some powerful individuals.”
He also recommended that an autopsy should be conducted immediately to determine the cause of the deaths and the findings made public so that the public can get a full picture of what happened.
On its part, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) urged four United Nations Special Rapporteurs to urgently intervene over the reported deaths of 37 persons in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Niger State and the reported use of lethal force against protesters in Minna.
In an urgent appeal dated Friday, September 18, 2026, and signed by SERAP deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: “The UN should demand answers from the Nigerian authorities and ensure that the truth about the deaths of the 37 persons in NSCDC custody and the reported use of lethal force against protesters in Minna is established.”
SERAP said: “Every death or serious injury in police custody ought to be promptly, thoroughly, independently, impartially, transparently, and effectively investigated, and perpetrators identified and brought to justice. Any loss of life that results from the excessive use of force without strict compliance with the international human rights standards, including necessity and proportionality is an arbitrary deprivation of life and therefore illegal.”
According to SERAP, “The reported deaths in custody and the subsequent use of lethal force against protesters require urgent international scrutiny. The Nigerian authorities have a responsibility to establish the truth, protect the right to peaceful protest, ensure accountability for unlawful conduct and provide effective remedies to victims and their families.”
SERAP also said: “The UN special rapporteurs should urgently demand that the Nigerian authorities establish the truth about the deaths of the 37 persons in NSCDC custody and the reported use of lethal force against protesters in Minna, and ensure accountability and justice for any unlawful conduct.”
The urgent appeal, addressed to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and association; Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression; and Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, and with reference number: 2s3wtdb5, reads in part: “It is important to establish responsibility, ensure accountability and effective remedies to victims and their families.
“Thirty-seven people went into NSCDC custody. They came out dead. Nigerians deserve to know what happened.
“SERAP is therefore calling for an investigation that is independent, impartial, prompt, thorough, effective and transparent, capable of establishing the identities of all 37 deceased persons, the circumstances and causes of their deaths, the conditions in which they were detained, the medical care provided, and the responsibility of individual officers and commanders.
“Following the deaths, protesters took to the streets of Minna. Security forces reportedly deployed tear gas and opened fire as demonstrations continued. There are reports that security forces responded with live ammunition, while other reporting said the precise type of ammunition used was not immediately established.
“The answer to deaths in custody cannot be more deaths on the streets.
“In a 2022 communication to the Nigerian Government concerning the #EndSARS protests, UN Special Procedures mandate holders stated: ‘We are troubled by the reported use of lethal force against unarmed protesters.’”
“They further reminded the Nigerian Government that: ‘any loss of life that results from the excessive use of force without strict compliance with the principles of necessity and proportionality is an arbitrary deprivation of life and therefore illegal.’”
SERAP is therefore urging the UN special rapporteurs to:
- Urgently communicate with the Nigerian Government concerning the reported deaths of 37 persons in NSCDC custody and the reported killing and shooting of protesters in Minna, and request detailed information on the circumstances and causes of the deaths, the treatment and conditions of detention, the legal basis for the arrests and detention, and the number and status of protesters killed or injured.
- Call on the Nigerian authorities to ensure an independent, impartial, prompt, thorough, effective and transparent investigation into the deaths in custody and the reported use of lethal force against protesters, conducted by a body independent of any security agency implicated in the alleged violations, with the findings made public.
- Urge the authorities to immediately preserve all relevant evidence, including physical, documentary, digital, medical and forensic evidence, and ensure that families of those who died or were injured have timely access to relevant information concerning the investigations.
- Call for accountability and effective remedies, including ensuring that security personnel reasonably suspected of unlawful killings, excessive use of force or other violations are held accountable in accordance with due process, and that victims and their families receive effective remedies, including compensation and other appropriate forms of reparation where violations are established.
- Urge the Nigerian Government to protect protesters, journalists, human rights defenders, lawyers, witnesses and relatives of victims from intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrest and reprisals, and ensure that future policing of demonstrations complies with the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality, including strict adherence to international standards governing the use of firearms.
- Request information on measures to prevent recurrence, including appropriate training, operational rules, command accountability and independent oversight of the NSCDC and other law enforcement agencies, and consider any further appropriate action within the Special Procedures’ mandates, including additional communication with the Nigerian Government and coordination with other relevant UN human rights mechanisms.
By Martha Agas
