A survivor of the mass death of suspected illegal miners in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Minna, Niger State, has recounted the harrowing conditions inside the facility, alleging that detainees battled extreme heat, overcrowding and suffocation before at least 37 people died.

The survivor, identified as Dauda Shehu, said 66 people were detained together, while only six were subsequently taken to hospital after several of their colleagues died.

Shehu said the detainees repeatedly pleaded with NSCDC officers to open the cell because of the unbearable heat and overcrowding, but their pleas were ignored.

According to him, some detainees became so dehydrated that they resorted to drinking their own urine in an attempt to survive.

“We had been working there for some days when some villagers came and spoke to us. We went to meet them at the palace, where we discussed the matter. They told us that we had to pay for the mining pits, one pit costing ₦150,000,” Shehu said.

“We told them that some of our colleagues had already come and paid ₦150,000 for their pits, and that they should allow us to continue working.

“Later, some people came and told us that since the payment had not been made for all the pits, we could not continue working.”

Asked whether they had been following the rules at the site, Shehu replied, “Yes.”

He said the dispute over payment for the mining pits eventually led to their arrest.

“The people who had paid for the pits were not many,” he said.

Asked whether the villagers were the ones who reported them, he said, “Yes, the villagers told us that if we did not pay for the mining pits, we could no longer continue working.”

How the miners were arrested

Shehu said the detainees were arrested on Wednesday while they were working at the mining site.

“We were working until after the morning prayer. At about 3 p.m. and a few minutes, I was sitting there while one of my brothers went into the pit to work. I got up and went to pray. When I returned, we suddenly saw some people who came to us.

“The people who normally work with us, our colleagues, came and told us to come to the palace so that we could discuss the matter again.

“We told them that some of our colleagues had not yet come to pay for their pits. They said yes. We told them that, if God gave us the means, we would also come and pay for our own pits.

“They agreed.

“We heard them, but we tried to return to the mosque.”

Asked whether those who came were the workers who arrested them, Shehu said: “Yes, the people who came were the ones who arrested us. They simply came and arrested us.”

‘The cell was too small for 66 people’

Shehu said the number of detainees inside the NSCDC facility was far greater than the small cell could accommodate.

“All of us inside were 66 people,” he said.

“Six of us were brought to the hospital. We do not know how many people they took away because only six of us were brought here.”

Asked whether they were beaten, shot or poisoned, Shehu said the deaths were caused by the conditions inside the cell.

“There was no beating. When they brought us there, nobody beat us. It was the heat,” he said.

“The cell they took us to was very small. We told them there were too many people inside. We talked to them repeatedly, but they did not listen. We started banging on the cell door, but it did not break.

“We could hear and see our fellow detainees dying. We told them that our fellow detainees were dying, but they thought we were lying.

“They did not beat us. It was the heat that affected us.”

Another survivor described the conditions inside the cell as unbearable.

“The heat was terrible. I swear, the heat was unbearable. We were suffering because of the extreme heat.

“The heat and sweating killed many of our people. I swear. The heat was so intense that even when you sat down, you would be drenched in sweat. There was sweat everywhere inside the cell. It got to a stage that we were drinking our urine.

“I swear.”

He said detainees were able to see some of the bodies as they lay inside the facility.

“Yes. There were many bodies. They were not just one or two. Some of them had died as early as the morning,” he said.

Asked whether they were inside the cell when the deaths occurred, he said: “We were near the door. There was only a small opening, but it was not enough. We tried to show them what was happening, but the door was already overcrowded.”

Asked how he felt about the deaths, he said he was devastated.

“As I am standing here now, honestly, I do not know what to say. My fellow workers have died. I am devastated. Those who were close to us are gone, and we do not know what will happen next,” he said.

‘We have no choice’

Despite the tragedy, the survivors said they had few alternatives because mining was their source of livelihood.

Asked whether he intended to continue mining, one of the survivors said: “We have no choice. This is the only work through which we get what we eat.”

One of the survivors said they had migrated from Allawa to the area.

“Allawa. Yes, we migrated from Allawa,” he said.

Relative recounts search for detained son

A relative of one of the detainees, identified as Abdullahi, said his son, Salim, was among those arrested at the mining site.

“I have a son named Salim. He is the one who goes out to find what we will eat, both day and night. He went out three days ago, and that was when I heard that he had been arrested,” Abdullahi said.

Asked who arrested Salim, he replied: “The Civil Defence officers arrested him.”

He said the family had repeatedly approached the authorities in an attempt to secure his release.

“We came and tried to resolve the matter with them. They told us it was not the right time. We had been coming for three days. Yesterday, we brought food to them.”

Asked where Salim was arrested, Abdullahi said: “He was arrested here, at the gold-mining site.”

He said the Civil Defence office was located near the PDP Secretariat in Minna.

Asked where the family took the food, he said: “It was at their office, near the PDP Secretariat, where they were having a meeting.”

He said the family visited the detainees on Wednesday.

“We went yesterday and took food to them. We also told him, ‘Please, when you come out, forget about this matter and stop doing this work.’”

Abdullahi said Salim had not been involved in criminal activities and was simply trying to make a living.

“This is the second time they have brought you here. You are not a thief. This boy did not steal anything, and he did not harm anyone. They were only working in that place to find something to eat.”

However, when the family returned with food, they encountered a horrifying scene.

“Today, when we went back to take them food, we found dead bodies,” he said.

Asked how many bodies they saw, Abdullahi replied: “There were many bodies. They had taken them away to another place.”

Asked whether all those bodies were dead, he said: “Yes, all of them were dead. Four people had been taken away.”

On whether they saw signs of gunshot wounds or beatings, he said: “We cannot say what caused their deaths. We did not see any signs of gunshot wounds.”

Abdullahi appealed to the government to ensure that the circumstances surrounding the deaths were properly investigated.

“My appeal is to the government and to people everywhere to seek justice. Whatever caused this tragedy has brought suffering because these people have nothing else to do,” he said.

“First, the government did not provide these young men with jobs. When they go out looking for food and bring something home, it is not an additional benefit to us; it is what we survive on.

“Honestly, I am only a security guard. This boy was the one feeding us. He was the one providing our food and drinking water. He would go out, find something, come back and give it to his mother. He would go out to work and come back.

“He never insulted anyone. He never fought anyone. He had been doing this work for about two years.

“Why should his rights be violated? Even if he was working in that place, that was what he did to survive. He did not steal and did not insult anybody. When he returned, he would come home. From this house, he would go straight to the gold-mining site.”