A nine-year-old survivor of the deaths of suspected illegal miners in Niger State has alleged that personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) refused to release detainees after their parents arrived to secure their bail.
The boy, identified as Khalid, also alleged that detainees were denied access to water and fresh air after an unidentified substance was sprayed into an overcrowded cell where 37 suspected illegal miners later died.
Khalid spoke in an account published by Sahara Reporters, recounting his experience after he and others were arrested at a mining site behind the Peoples Democratic Party secretariat along M.I. Wushishi Housing Estate in Minna.
According to him, those at the site initially fled when NSCDC personnel arrived but were later intercepted around Tunga Junction.
“My name is Khalid, I’m nine years old. We were at the mining site behind PDP secretariat along M.I. Wushishi Housing Estate when NSCDC came and started arresting people. We ran away but they followed us to Tunga Junction and caught us,” he said.
The boy said the detainees spent a night in custody before their families became aware of their arrest.
“We spent one night in custody; our parents didn’t know that we were arrested. When they got to know and they wanted to bail us, the security agents refused and didn’t give them access to us,” he alleged.
Khalid said the detainees were held in a dark cell as more people were brought into the room, making the conditions increasingly difficult.
He alleged that, later in the evening, an unidentified substance was sprayed into the cell through openings from outside.
“We were in the cell when they brought more people into the cell in a dark room. In the evening, they sprayed something in the cell. We don’t know what it was because it was dark, but we saw when they sprayed something through the holes in the cell from outside,” he said.
According to him, some detainees began dying after the substance was sprayed, while others experienced intense heat and itching.
“After spraying it, some people started dying. Our body was itching, the heat became intense and it got to a stage where we started biting ourselves and colleagues,” he alleged.
The survivor further claimed that detainees repeatedly alerted the security personnel that people were dying inside the cell but received no assistance.
“We told them that people were dying and they said, ‘It is none of our business.’ We asked them to give us water to pour on the dying colleagues and to drink, and they refused,” he said.
Khalid also alleged that officers refused requests to open the first of two doors leading to the cell to allow air into the overcrowded room.
“We asked them to open the first door for us because it is two doors, but they refused. Some people died. They were biting each other,” he added.
The allegations are part of the ongoing investigation into the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners who died while in NSCDC custody in Minna.
The victims were among scores of people arrested during NSCDC operations against suspected illegal mining around the M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto areas of Minna on September 15 and 16, 2026.
Niger State Governor Umar Bago said 67 artisanal and suspected illegal miners had been detained at the NSCDC facility before 37 died.
The NSCDC initially attributed the deaths to a suspected disease outbreak but later said the cause had not been established and would be determined through medical and laboratory examinations.
The deaths sparked public outrage and protests, with calls for an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
President Bola Tinubu subsequently ordered a comprehensive investigation, while the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, constituted a 10-member independent committee to investigate the deaths.
The NSCDC also suspended its Niger State Commandant and other officers linked to the incident.
The committee has since commenced its investigation and said it would visit relevant locations and interview survivors, suspects and other persons with information that could assist its inquiry.
The allegations made by the survivor have not been independently verified, while the outcome of the ongoing investigation is expected to establish the circumstances and cause of the deaths.
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