A survivor from a prison cell in Minna, Nigeria, where 37 suspected illegal gold miners died in the custody of a paramilitary group, has recounted his panic and struggle for breath. Dauda Shehu 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.”
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) initially blamed the deaths on a disease outbreak. However, an intelligence report seen by Agence France-Presse suggested that preliminary information pointed to overcrowding and inadequate ventilation as the cause. A video shared online showed the bodies of dozens of young men, most appearing to be teenagers, clad only in shorts and sprawled on the ground. Volunteers in gloves stood over the dead while veiled women tried to identify relatives, and voices shouting curses could be heard in the background.
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. Police cordoned off the area and fired teargas to disperse the protesters. A Reuters witness saw security forces fire live rounds as protesters – some armed with sticks, machetes and traditional hunting rifles – called for justice. Some 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, and soldiers and police patrolled Minna to restore order.
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 a full investigation. The state governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, later confirmed 37 people had died, 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, Niger state sits on deposits of tantalite, copper and lithium, which are in strong demand for electric vehicles and clean energy technology.
Source: www.theguardian.com