Thirty-seven people arrested in a Nigeria government crackdown on suspected illegal mining died while in custody, sparking protests and scrutiny of the country’s mining enforcement drive.
Niger state on Friday suspended all mining until further notice and imposed a round-the-clock curfew in the city of Minna, about 150 km by road northwest of Abuja. The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps arrested scores of people on Monday and Tuesday at mining sites near Minna. Authorities found 37 detainees dead early Thursday. The cause of death hasn’t been established.
“It could be as a result of suffocation because there were so many in a cell,” Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago said Thursday at a news conference in Minna broadcast by TVC News.
The deaths put the civil-defence corps at the centre of scrutiny as Abuja relies on it to police unlicensed mining while trying to draw more investment into the sector. The government in 2024 created its Mining Marshals from corps personnel to close illegal sites, arrest suspects and protect licensed operations.
Probes widen
The state government set up an inquiry and ordered forensic examinations and autopsies, Bago’s chief press secretary, Bologi Ibrahim, said in a Thursday statement. Police, the State Security Service and the civil-defence corps opened separate investigations, Bago said at the news conference.
Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo suspended Niger State civil-defence commandant Suberu Aniviye pending a federal investigation, his media adviser Alao Babatunde said in a Friday statement. Civil-defence chief Ahmed Audi separately ordered Aniviye and senior officers responsible for operations, mining, legal affairs, intelligence and investigations to report to headquarters in Abuja. He sent a new commandant to Niger state.
The Niger state civil-defence command initially cited a suspected disease outbreak. The agency’s national headquarters said Thursday that the cause hadn’t been established and required medical and laboratory confirmation, spokesman Babawale Afolabi said in a statement.
Amnesty International called for an independent investigation into the arrests and detention conditions. It alleged minors were among those held.
Illegal issue
Niger State has struggled for years to control a sizeable formal and informal mining sector. The state government said in 2024 that 880 mining companies and cooperatives were registered there, but only 261 had submitted to state profiling. Mining-cadastre records cited at the time listed 578 mineral titles in the state, including 369 for gold.
Illegal mining remains widespread across Nigeria. Mining Marshals identified 374 suspected illegal sites between March 2024 and August this year, clearing 108 and arresting 743 people, the federal mining ministry said this month. Authorities were prosecuting 165 cases involving 430 defendants but had secured only five convictions.
Mining crackdown
The protests on Friday spread through parts of Minna after authorities moved the bodies to a mortuary, according to Bago and local media. The state deployed security forces across the city before imposing the curfew after Friday prayers. It also declared three days of mourning and cancelled a political rally planned for Saturday.
Nigeria’s federal government formed the Mining Marshals with 2,220 officers in 2024 and added 350 later that year. It has used the force to raid unlicensed sites and arrest operators as Nigeria seeks to bring more artisanal production under government control.
By – https://www.mining.com/nigeria-mining-crackdown-under-fire-after-37-die/