Nigeria Detention Deaths: 37 Miners Die After Cell Spraying, Tinubu Orders Probe

Nigerian authorities have launched an investigation into the deaths of 37 detainees in a crowded cell in Minna, the capital of Niger State, after survivors said prison guards sprayed an unidentified substance into the room and left the doors locked despite cries for help.

The deaths, which included many teenagers who worked in artisanal gold mines, have triggered protests and renewed scrutiny of conditions inside Nigeria's detention facilities and the treatment of suspects held for long periods awaiting trial.

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), a paramilitary agency, had raided suspected illegal gold mines and detained dozens of miners in Minna as part of efforts to regulate mining.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered an investigation into the deaths. His government earlier suspended some senior NSCDC officials pending the outcome of the probe. The NSCDC, the interior ministry that oversees it, and the Niger state government did not respond to written questions. Authorities presented the bodies to the media on Thursday, but the cause of death could not be determined.

When the deaths were confirmed on Thursday morning, the NSCDC initially said a disease outbreak may have been involved, but later said the cause had not been established and would be investigated.

Adamu Isah, 22, said he was among a group of teenagers and young men rounded up in a sweep last week of gold mines outside Minna. The group was driven back into town and, at around 8 p.m. on September 17, about 17 of them were locked in a cell measuring 5 square metres, with a small, single window.

Isah said nearly 50 more detained miners were moved into the cell, and they began complaining to guards that it was too full. Shortly afterwards, officers sprayed an unidentified substance under the door, he said.

"At first, we thought they were trying to put some scent into the room because there were so many people inside," he said. About an hour later, detainees began behaving erratically and falling unconscious. "Then, one after another, they started dying," he said, now back home recovering.

Dauda Shehu, 29, another survivor, said: "They sprayed something which smelled like a perfume. Hours later we started feeling throats itching, then we started struggling to breathe. People started dying."

Isah and Shehu described scenes of panic as detainees shouted for help and pounded on the door. Some victims appeared disoriented and became aggressive before collapsing, Isah said. The accounts could not be independently verified, and it was not possible to determine what might have been sprayed into the cells, or why.

Another survivor gave a similar account of a product being sprayed into the cramped cell. In a clip shown on a local television channel, the unnamed survivor recounted his story to senior government officials, including Niger State Governor Umar Bago and Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.

"We kept complaining that it was tiny, yet none of them listened to us," he said, speaking in Hausa. "We again complained but were ignored, they then locked the cell and sprayed something like scent," he said, adding that people began collapsing soon after. "I don't know what was sprayed but ... it smelt like pepper." The survivor said he fainted and woke up in the morning.

Many of the victims were buried immediately in accordance with Islamic tradition. A spokesperson for Niger State General Hospital said six bodies remained in the mortuary.

Anger over the incident led to clashes on Friday, which left one person dead and forced Niger officials to impose a 24-hour curfew.