Governor of Niger state, a state in the north central region of Nigeria said 37 people suspected of being illegal miners died early Thursday within hours of being detained the state’s civil defense corps

37 of 67 suspected illegal miners arrested on Tuesday and Wednesday were found dead on early Thursday Sept 17, inside their cells.

Niger state with a large land area, more than twice the size of Belgium, is rich in minerals and attracts thousands of artisanal miners, as well as illegal foreign backed mining operations

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), mining marshals unit has been cracking down on illegal mining recently

President Bola Tinubu has ordered full and transparent investigation into the death of suspected illegal miners

37 of 67 suspected illegal miners arrested on Thursday were found dead on Friday Sept 18, inside their cells. Families gathered outside the hospital, where the bodies have been taken

Nigerian authorities launched an investigation Thursday after 37 suspected illegal miners died in a civil defense detention facility in central Niger state, with conflicting accounts blaming either a disease outbreak or overcrowding and poor ventilation.
The governor of Niger state, a state in the north central region of Nigeria said 37 people suspected of being illegal miners died early Thursday while in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC).
67 suspected illegal miners, mostly between the ages of 14 and 18, were arrested a day earlier in the Lt.-Gen. Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi Estate in the state capital, Minna, over allegations of illegal mining.near Minna. That area according to local authorities, was declared an illegal mining area a while back.
The detainees reportedly were kept in three cells. By the next morning over half of the detainees were found dead – all from one cell.
The Niger state Civil Defense Corps, the agency which arrested the alleged miners, blamed initially blamed the deaths on an outbreak of diphtheria.
However, an intelligence report suggested was due to overcrowding and poor ventilation instead.
One survivor told local media there were more than 60 people in a single cell with very little ventilation, food or water.
“We kept banging on the door,” Dauda Shehu, 38, said in a phone interview with The Times from a hospital.
Shehu said he was lucky to be close to the cell door, where there was a tiny opening for air.
“When people started dying, we kept calling out to them, but they did not listen,” Shehu said of the authorities. Some of those who died were denied water, so they drank their own urine, he said.
“This morning we woke up to the news that about 37 persons died in the custody of the civil defense here in Minna,” Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago told reporters at a news conference in the state capital broadcast by Nigeria’s TVC News network.
Gov. Bago said the joint investigation by the Ministry of Mines, the Ministry of Interior and the office of the Inspector General of Police, would not only investigate the possibility of a rash outbreak of disease and over crowding in the cells, but would also examine the possibility of radiation from the mines because some of the deceased showed peeling skin, foaming from mouth, along with evidence of hemorrhage from the mouth and nose.
The governor declared three days of mourning and postponed the start of campaigning for the country’s upcoming general elections scheduled for January.
President Bola Tinubu has ordered full and transparent investigation into the death of suspected illegal miners.

Niger state with a large land area, more than twice the size of Belgium, is rich in minerals and attracts thousands of artisanal miners, as well as illegal foreign backed mining operations. The NSCDC mining marshals unit has been cracking down on illegal mining recently

The dead miners were in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), which partners with the police to protect lives, critical national assets and infrastructure.
A 40-second video shared online showed bodies of dozens of young men clad only in shorts, most of whom appeared to be teenagers, sprawling on the ground out in the open.
Volunteers wearing gloves are seen standing over them, while veiled women try to identify the bodies of their relatives. Voices shouting curses on those responsible can be heard in the background. According to the state governor, tissue samples were collected from victims of the Muslim faith, who were then released to their families for immediate burial according to their religious rites. The others await autopsy to ascertain cause of death.
The deaths of the miners in government custody triggered protests by “groups of miners and sympathizers” on Friday in the sate capital, Minna, where vehicles and other property belonging to the government as well as shops and public facilities were damaged.
The men’s deaths ignited ire in the area, triggering protests. Hundreds of protesters were in the streets of Minna, where the miners had been arrested. Police responded with gunfire and tear gas, and some protesters rioted and burned a government building, witnesses said.

The deaths of the miners in custody triggered protests by “groups of miners and sympathizers” in the state capital, Minna, on Friday,where govt owned vehicles and other properties were damaged.

Following the discovery, the Niger state police chief “ordered the immediate commencement of investigation into the unfortunate death of suspected illegal miners while in the detention facility of the NSCDC”, police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun said in a statement.
The civil defense said it had rounded up “scores of suspected illegal miners” on Tuesday and Wednesday,
“However, in the early hours of 17th September, 2026, scores of the detained suspects were found dead, following a suspected outbreak of disease.”
But according to the intelligence report, “preliminary information suggests the fatalities may have resulted from overcrowding and inadequate ventilation within a detention facility”.
Niger state with a large land area, more than twice the size of Belgium, is rich in minerals and attracts thousands of artisanal miners, as well as illegal foreign backed mining operations most of them lured by the hope of striking gold.
Apart from gold, Niger State sits on deposits of other valuable minerals including tantalite, copper and lithium, in strong demand for use in electric vehicles and clean energy technology.
The NSCDC mining marshals unit has been cracking down on illegal mining recently.
The unregulated scramble for solid mineral reserves dug up in illegal mines in Niger state is largely controlled by criminal gangs. The gangs, classified as ‘bandits’ by local law enforcement have unleashed a wave of violence and ‘kidnappings’ mostly in the northern and central regions of Nigeria. As it is the huge swat of arable land also hold the title of being the center of the country’s agrarian economy.
The gangs not only chase farmers away from their farmland sacking whole communities with the escalating waves of killings and kidnappings and expropriation of farmland, they also tax the miners and demand a cut from the extracted ore as a levy to allow them access to the pits.
Most of the illegally mined gold is smuggled out to the United Arab Emirates, from where it is laundered into the global supply chain in Europe, the United States, Asia and South Africa, according to a 2024 SwissAid report.