Survivors recount panic and struggle to breathe in Nigerian prison cell where 37 died

Original article by Eromo Egbejule in Abidjan and agencies

Survivors from a prison cell in Nigeria where 37 suspected illegal goldminers died while in the custody of a paramilitary group this week have recounted their panic and struggle for breath, as police on Friday fired teargas at people protesting against the deaths and imposed an overnight curfew in the city of Minna.

The victims – many of whom were children – were found dead on Thursday in the cells of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), which had raided suspected illegal gold mines and ⁠locked up dozens of miners in the city, the state capital of the mineral-rich state of Niger.

NSCDC – a paramilitary group that works with police – initially blamed the deaths on a disease outbreak. However, an intelligence report seen by Agence France-Presse (AFP) said preliminary information suggested that overcrowding and inadequate ventilation were responsible.

The state governor, Umar Bago, said many of the dead were children, aged 14 to 18, who had been working in the mines instead of going to school. “There are issues of illegal mining and it is taking a toll on our children,” he said.

Dauda Shehu, a survivor from the cell, told journalists at a hospital on Friday: “We were jam-packed in the cell, no ventilation for us to breathe well. All of a sudden we realised that we could not breathe and we were all scampering for where to get fresh air, we even appealed to them several times, banged the cell door, but they refused to answer us.”

A video shared online showed the bodies of dozens of young men clad only in shorts, most of whom appeared to be teenagers, sprawled on the ground out in the open. Volunteers wearing gloves can be seen standing over the dead, while veiled women try to identify the bodies of their relatives. Voices shouting curses on those responsible can be heard in the background.

AFP reported that another survivor, who asked not to be named, said he had made it out alive because he was near the cell’s entrance, where he could breathe better. “We were screaming for help,” he said, with detainees telling the guards that “people are dying one after the other. They did not believe us.”

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ordered an investigation into the deaths after his government earlier suspended some senior officials.

But protests over the deaths broke out on Thursday evening in Minna. On Friday dozens of young people, including miners and their relatives, gathered near the NSCDC’s office in the city. Police cordoned off the area and attempted to disperse the protesters by firing teargas.

A Reuters witness saw security forces fire live rounds as protesters – ​some armed with sticks, machetes and traditional hunting rifles – called ‌for justice. Some protesters tried ‌to set fire to government buildings in the Tunga neighbourhood. “We are not thieves – we are simply seeking a way to make ‌a living by mining,” Yusuf Auwal, a miner who joined the protesters, told Reuters. At least one body lay on the streets. Soldiers and police officers patrolled Minna to try to restore order.

As ⁠curfew began at 6pm local time on Friday, security forces appeared to have at least temporarily restored order to the streets of the city.

The NSCDC said the detainees had been held in raids on suspected illegal mines on 15 and 16 September in the Wushishi-Lukoto area west of Minna. Nigeria’s interior minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, ordered the immediate suspension of Niger state’s NSCDC commandant, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, pending the outcome of an investigation.

Niger state, which is Nigeria’s largest and is more than twice the size of Belgium, is rich in minerals and attracts thousands of artisanal miners, most lured by gold.

Police and the NSCDC did not initially provide a precise number of deaths but the state governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, later confirmed 37 people had died.

“It’s so sad, it’s so tragic,” he said, adding an inquiry into the deaths had already started work. He declared three days of mourning and postponed the start of campaigning for elections due in January. The men were buried on Thursday, according to Islamic tradition, without any forensic investigations.

The scramble for gold reserves dug up in illegal mines in Niger state is fuelling violence by criminal gangs, according to officials and experts. The gangs 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 to the United Arab Emirates, where it is laundered into the global supply chain in Europe, the US, Asia and South Africa, according to a 2024 Swissaid report.

Apart from gold, the state of Niger sits on deposits of other minerals including tantalite, copper and lithium, which are in strong demand for use in electric vehicles and clean energy technology.

Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report