Thirty-seven suspected illegal miners who died in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Niger State have been identified.
LEADERSHIP reports that the victims were among scores of suspects arrested during operations conducted on September 15 and 16 around Lt Gen Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi Estate in Minna, the Niger State capital.
The NSCDC commandant in the state at the time, Suberu Aniviye, said in a statement that “scores of the detained suspects were found dead in the early hours of Thursday following a suspected outbreak of disease.”
Following the development, the federal government suspended the Niger State NSCDC commandant and ordered a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths.
The International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) told reporters that it had compiled a list of the 37 deceased.
Awaisu Giwa, international peace ambassador at the IHRC, said on Sunday that the organisation obtained the initial list from the records of General Hospital, Minna.
Giwa said the names were provided by the mortuary attendant on the instruction of the hospital’s chief medical director (CMD).
He said four additional names had been added to the list after relatives of victims whose names were not initially recorded approached the commission.
“We got the list from the CMD of the general hospital. It was written by the mortuary attendant for us, but we are going to the hospital tomorrow for the list to be on the official letterhead of the hospital,” he said.
“The CMD was the one who instructed the mortuary attendant to give us the names. Some people whose relatives were missing are beginning to report in our office.”
Giwa said the list would also be used to facilitate compensation for families of those who died in the incident.
Below is the full list of victims:
