Niger gov questions number of miners arrested before 37 deaths

Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago has questioned the number of suspected miners arrested by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) after 37 detainees died in their custody. Bago stated that about 67 people were arrested and detained in three cells, with 37 of them dying in the cell where male detainees were held.

He raised concerns about the actual cause of the deaths, which could be suffocation, poisoning from hazardous substances, or radiation, and emphasized the need for further investigation. The NSCDC, Ministry of Mines, police, and Department of State Services have deployed teams to investigate the incident, and medical examinations and biopsies are being conducted.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.