Niger panel given four weeks to investigate deaths of 37 miners in custody
Niger State Governor Umaru Bago has established a nine-member judicial commission to examine how 37 miners died while in Nigeria’s civil defence custody. The panel will investigate detention, treatment, responsibility and medical evidence, amid public concern, a protest and federal action against 20 suspended officers.
Niger State Governor Umaru Bago has inaugurated a nine-member judicial commission to investigate the deaths of 37 miners while they were in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps. The commission was inaugurated at Government House in Minna after its members were sworn in by Justice Muhammad Muhammad of the Niger State High Court. Muhammad will chair the inquiry.
Bago gave the panel four weeks to investigate the incident and submit its findings and recommendations. The state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Nasir Mu’azu, said the commission was established under relevant legal provisions, including the Constitution, the federal Tribunal of Inquiry Act and Niger State’s Commission of Inquiry Law. He said public concern over the deaths prompted the inquiry, adding that the alleged status of the victims as illegal miners did not remove their fundamental rights or the state’s duty to protect their lives.
The panel’s mandate includes examining the circumstances of the arrests, the legality of the detentions, and the conditions and treatment of the miners in custody. It will also consider the circumstances of the deaths, questions of responsibility and accountability, and medical and forensic evidence. Mu’azu said the commission was not tasked with imposing administrative sanctions or punishments on officers, but with establishing the facts within the state government’s powers.
Its members include representatives of the legal profession, public service, judiciary, police, civil society, the mining sector and the Minna Emirate. A survivor alleged that suspects were held in a small room where an unpleasant substance was sprayed before the cell was locked; the supplied material does not establish that allegation. The deaths led to a protest and a 24-hour curfew in Minna.
President Bola Tinubu ordered a full investigation, while Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo announced the suspension of 20 NSCDC officers in connection with the reported deaths.
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