The deaths of 37 alleged miners in the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps’ (NSCDC) custody have been made public by Niger State Governor Mohammed Bago.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Bago claimed that the victims’ mouths had foam and blood, which might be signs of suffocation or poisoning.
He claimed that some of the victims had burns on their bodies and that more research will show what transpired.
He said that exposure to dangerous chemicals connected to illicit mining and asphyxia from overcrowding in the jail cell were among the potential causes under investigation.
Before they were buried, samples were taken from a few of them. Some of them had burns on their bodies. The governor stated, “We truly don’t know what happened, but investigation will reveal the truth.”
In order to prevent a breakdown of law and order, the state government imposed a 24-hour curfew after young people in the state protested the incident in the streets.