33 die in Nigerian custody; survivor says overcrowded cell caused suffocation

At least 33 people arrested on suspicion of illegal mining were found dead while in the custody of Nigerian security authorities on Thursday, with officials saying a suspected disease outbreak may have caused the deaths.

However, a survivor said the detainees may have suffocated after being held in an overcrowded and poorly ventilated cell. Dauda Shehu told The Associated Press that 65 people had been confined in the cell.

The deaths occurred at a facility run by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, or NSCDC, in north-central Niger state, the agency's spokesman Abubakar Muti told The AP.

According to Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, the head of the NSCDC in Niger state, the detainees had been arrested on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of an operation targeting suspected illegal mining activities in the state.

Aniviye said the agency believed a disease outbreak could be responsible for the deaths. However, he said the bodies had been taken to a local hospital for “further medical examination to establish the actual cause of death.” He did not specify what disease was suspected.

Shehu, who survived the incident, said the cell was severely overcrowded and lacked adequate ventilation.

“We were jampacked and there was no ventilation for us to breathe well,” Shehu said. “All of a sudden, we realized that we could not breathe and we started scrambling to get fresh air.”

Shehu spoke to The AP at Minna General Hospital, where the bodies were taken for examination. He said detainees attempted to alert the guards by repeatedly banging on the cell door.

Shafatu Sulaiman said she lost both of her sons in the incident. Speaking to The AP at the hospital while standing near their bodies, she appealed to the government to intervene.

Police in Niger state have opened an investigation into the deaths and asked relatives of the victims to provide any information that could assist the inquiry.

Illegal mining continues to pose a challenge in Nigeria.

Analysts have associated illegal mining in the country's north-central and northwest regions with armed gangs involved in ransom kidnappings. They have alleged that some of these groups receive financial support from the illicit mining trade.  (with inputs from Associated Press)