Police Fire Teargas in Minna After 37 Goldminers Die in Custody, Prompting 6 p.m. Curfew
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 21
Police Fire Teargas in Minna After 37 Goldminers Die in Custody, Prompting 6 p.m. Curfew
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 21
Summary
Dozens of protesters in Minna were dispersed with teargas on Friday after 37 suspected illegal goldminers died in NSCDC custody, with security forces later enforcing a 6 p.m. overnight curfew.
Survivors said the detainees were crammed into an unventilated cell and ignored as they screamed for help; an intelligence report cited overcrowding and poor ventilation, undercutting the NSCDC’s initial disease-outbreak claim.
Many of the dead were teenagers aged 14 to 18, Governor Umar Bago said, after raids on suspected illegal mines on Sept. 15 and 16 in the Wushishi-Lukoto area west of Minna.
President Bola Tinubu ordered an investigation, the interior minister suspended the Niger state NSCDC commandant, and the governor declared three days of mourning after the victims were buried without forensic examinations.
The deaths have sharpened scrutiny of Niger state’s illegal gold trade, which draws thousands of artisanal miners and is tied to criminal gangs and smuggling routes feeding global supply chains.