A Nigerian panel linked miners’ deaths in custody to overcrowding and neglect, while families seek justice and one survivor presses for the return of items he says were seized during the arrests.
The panel said overcrowding and neglect, along with extreme heat and dehydration in Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) detention, led to the miners’ deaths last month. They had been detained on suspicion of illegal mining. Nigeria’s government welcomed the findings, and Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said the report was sent to the attorney-general for immediate judicial action.
Accounts put the death toll at different figures. Reuters reported that 37 miners died in custody. An earlier EconoTimes account of the panel’s findings said the committee verified 33 deaths, including 14 minors, and identified 41 survivors. That report said the panel proposed ₦1.4 billion in compensation and recommended dismissing or, where appropriate, prosecuting officers found responsible.
The proposed compensation is not a confirmed payment. The earlier EconoTimes account said the proposal set ₦30 million for each of 33 bereaved families and ₦10 million for each of 41 survivors. It also noted that Channels Television reported 44 survivors were included in the compensation recommendation, a difference the cited reports did not resolve.
Tunji-Ojo did not answer Reuters’ questions about whether or when compensation might reach families and survivors. Reuters reported that the deaths, including those of teenagers, prompted protests and renewed concerns about detention conditions and the treatment of suspects awaiting trial.
Property is another focus for survivors. Abdulsalam Yakubu, 23, told Reuters he wants the government to return motorcycles, phones, gold and equipment for mining that he says officers took when they arrested the miners. He said government action had been slow and called for justice, support and the return of the belongings. “We have suffered enough,” Yakubu told Reuters.
Zainab Salihu, whose son died in custody, told Reuters that compensation could not make up for his death. “No matter how much money they give us, it will never bring our children back,” she said. Dauda Shehu, 25, told Reuters that officers who show disregard for human life should not remain in authority and should face disciplinary action.
The report’s referral to the attorney-general for judicial action is the next stated official step. Tunji-Ojo did not provide a timeline for compensation.
