Parents of miners who died in NSCDC custody demand compensation

The parents of artisanal miners who died in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Minna, Niger State, are demanding compensation for the bereaved families. According to Niger State Governor, Mohammed Bago, 67 artisanal and suspected illegal miners were arrested by the NSCDC during enforcement operations on September 15 and 16, 2026, and were held in a cell before 37 of them died in custody.

The deaths were discovered on September 17, and the NSCDC initially suggested that a disease outbreak might have been responsible, but later clarified that the cause had not been determined. Governor Bago stated that authorities were still investigating the incident and had not established the precise cause of death, but were examining issues such as overcrowding and possible exposure to hazardous substances associated with mining activities.

Governor Bago identified possible causes of death as suffocation or exposure to certain poisons or poisoning substances on the field. Medical, forensic, and biological experts have been mobilised to obtain samples and conduct examinations to establish what happened.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria, Punch, Ripples Nigeria — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.