Boluwatife Olatunbosun
Niger Deaths: 21 NSCDC Officers Suspended
The Federal Government has suspended 21 Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps officers, including the Niger State Commandant, following the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in the Corps’ custody.
The officers were suspended by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, pending the outcome of an independent investigation into the deaths, which occurred on Thursday, September 17, 2026.
The suspension was announced in a statement signed by the minister on Saturday and comes alongside the establishment of a 10-member independent committee to investigate the incident.
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The committee is expected to establish the identities of the deceased and examine the circumstances surrounding their arrest and detention, as well as the cause of their deaths.
It will also determine whether there was responsibility, complicity, negligence or misconduct in the incident and recommend appropriate action and compensation where applicable.
The suspended officers include the Niger State Commandant, Suberu Aniviye, who had earlier been suspended, alongside 20 other personnel involved in station guard duties, arrests, investigations, legal matters and night duty.
The 37 deceased were among scores of suspected illegal miners arrested during NSCDC enforcement operations in the M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto areas of Niger State on September 15 and 16.
The Corps said the operation was aimed at tackling illegal mining and that several exhibits were recovered during the arrests.
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The detainees were later found dead in NSCDC custody in Minna. The Corps initially attributed the deaths to a suspected disease outbreak and said the bodies had been taken to the General Hospital, Minna, for medical examination. The actual cause of death has not been established.
A survivor, Dauda Shehu, told journalists that detainees had been held in a poorly ventilated cell where they struggled to breathe. Another survivor alleged that a substance resembling perfume was sprayed into the overcrowded cell shortly before some detainees collapsed. Neither account has been established as the official cause of the deaths.
The incident triggered protests in Minna, after which the Niger State Government imposed a curfew following unrest. Governor Umar Bago also confirmed the death toll and ordered a state-level inquiry.
President Bola Tinubu subsequently directed a comprehensive investigation into the incident.
