Nigerian government’s Independent Investigative Committee looking into what led to the deaths of detainees in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Niger State has found that 37 persons, including 14 minors, died from asphyxiation caused by overcrowding, poor ventilation, heat stress and dehydration.
The committee chairman and former Deputy Director-General of the Department of State Services, Jonathan Kure, disclosed this on Tuesday while presenting the panel’s report to the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, in Abuja.
Kure said the deaths were preventable, attributing them to unlawful detention conditions, failure of duty of care, disregard for distress calls and poor supervision.
“The committee concluded that the incident was a preventable custodial tragedy caused by severe overcrowding, unlawful and unsuitable detention conditions, failure of duty of care, disregard of repeated distress warnings, inadequate supervision, and wider systemic deficiencies,” he said.
The 10-member committee was constituted following a directive by President Bola Tinubu to investigate the deaths of suspects arrested during operations against suspected illegal mining in Niger State.
Initially, reports put the death toll at 37, the committee authenticated 33 deaths and identified 41 survivors.
According to Kure, medical and forensic evidence showed that the victims suffered environmental asphyxia after prolonged confinement in a severely overcrowded and poorly ventilated cell. He added that the evidence did not support claims that a disease outbreak caused the deaths.
The committee established that NSCDC personnel conducted raids on September 15 and 16 without an approved operational order, adequate planning or consultation with relevant mining authorities. The corps’ national headquarters was also not informed before the operation began.
Kure said approximately 50 male detainees were confined in a cell measuring about 20 square metres, with inadequate ventilation, no running water, poor lighting and no functioning toilet.
Food and drinking water were either unavailable or grossly inadequate, while adults and minors were detained together.
He said: “The detention conditions were found to be grossly inadequate and inconsistent with constitutional safeguards, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, the Child Rights Act, and accepted international standards.
“Despite clear evidence that conditions inside the cell had become life-threatening, officers responsible for detainee welfare failed to open the cell, to decongest the facility, or arrange emergency intervention.”
The deaths occurred between 8pm on September 16 and 7am on September 17, when the cell was eventually opened. Post-mortem examinations were conducted on three bodies, while the remaining 30 had been buried before the arrival of the committee’s medical team.