A Federal Government panel investigating the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in Niger State has found that they died of asphyxiation.
The 10-member independent committee was set up by the Federal Government on September 19, following a directive by President Bola Tinubu for a full and transparent investigation into the incident in Minna, the Niger State capital.
Presenting the report to the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, in Abuja on Tuesday, the chairman of the committee, Jonathan Kure, said the victims died from asphyxiation, a condition where the body is deprived of adequate oxygen.
Kure said the committee travelled to Minna, inspected the custody facility of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), conducted autopsies, and took statements from NSCDC personnel, survivors, families of the deceased and other witnesses, as well as collecting documentary and forensic evidence.
He said preliminary findings revealed institutional gaps and overzealousness on the part of some officers, stressing the need for greater professionalism in handling such cases.
The NSCDC had said the suspects were arrested during operations on September 15 and 16 around the Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi Estate in Minna.
The Niger State Commandant of the Corps, Suberu Aniviye, had in a statement claimed that “scores of the detained suspects were found dead in the early hours of Thursday following a suspected outbreak of disease.”
Following the incident, the Federal Government suspended the Niger State Commandant and 20 other officers.
The committee, which had on October 6 requested a two-week extension to submit its report, presented its findings after concluding its investigations.
