The Chairman of the 10-member independent committee, Jonathan Kure, disclosed this in Abuja, on Tuesday, while presenting the panel’s report to the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
According to Kure, the panel travelled to Minna,the capital of Niger State, inspected the custody facility, conducted autopsies and collected witness statements, documentary records and forensic evidence.
The committee also obtained statements from NSCDC personnel, survivors, families of the deceased and other witnesses as part of its investigation.
Presenting the findings, Kure stated that preliminary investigations had also uncovered institutional gaps and overzealousness by some officers, pointing to the need for greater professionalism in handling sensitive cases.
“Asphyxiation occurs when the body is deprived of adequate oxygen, potentially causing unconsciousness, organ damage or death,” he said.
Kure stressed that the deaths could have been preventable, attributing them to unlawful detention conditions, failure of duty of care, disregard for distress calls and poor supervision.
“Severe overcrowding, unlawful and unsuitable detention conditions, failure of duty of care, disregard of repeated distress warnings, inadequate supervision, and wider systemic deficiencies, caused the death of the miners, which could have been easily prevented,” he said.
Kure stated that approximately 50 male detainees were held in a 20-square-metre cell with poor ventilation, no running water, inadequate lighting and no functioning toilet, while food and drinking water were grossly inadequate.
“Witnesses told the committee that detainees banged on the cell doors, shouted for help and pleaded for water as conditions deteriorated overnight,” he noted.
“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,” he added .
The committee also found that the detention facility had been cleaned, disinfected and altered before independent forensic investigators arrived, while the detention register for September 16 was unavailable.
It accused the state commandant of failing to ensure proper planning and oversight of the operation, allowing overcrowding and subsequently attributing the deaths to a disease outbreak.
The panel recommended the dismissal of the state commandant and other officers found directly responsible for the deaths, alongside disciplinary measures for personnel whose negligence contributed to the incident.
It also proposed a total compensation package of ₦1.4 billion for the bereaved families and survivors, educational support for dependants of the deceased, medical rehabilitation for survivors, psychological support for affected families and a formal Federal Government apology.
The committee further faulted the detention conditions as inconsistent with constitutional safeguards, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, the Child Rights Act and accepted international standards
While receiving the report, Tunji-Ojo pledged that the Federal Government would implement the panel’s recommendations and ensure justice for the victims.
He directed the NSCDC Commandant-General to immediately suspend officers suspected of cleaning the detention centre and potentially destroying evidence.
“The best gift we can give to the deceased is justice. And justice must be done,” the minister said.
Tunji-Ojo disclosed that the report would be forwarded to the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice for further judicial action, while the ministry would assess the administrative recommendations and work with the corps to implement institutional reforms.
Rejecting the use of investigative committees merely to calm public anger, the minister declared, “It’s the era of setting up committees just to douse tension. It’s not now.”
He added that officers suspected of concealing the incident or destroying evidence would be suspended pending investigations and disciplinary action.
PerSecondNews recalls that Federal Government had constituted the panel on September 19, following President Bola Tinubu’s directive for a “full and transparent” investigation into the deaths.
Tunji-Ojo had announced the investigation in a statement that also listed 21 NSCDC officers suspended in connection with the incident.
The investigation followed the NSCDC’s announcement that the suspects had been arrested during operations conducted on September 15 and 16 around Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi Estate in Minna.
Suberu Aniviye, the NSCDC commandant in Niger State, had 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”.
The Federal Government subsequently suspended the state commandant and ordered a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths.
On October 6, the committee requested a two-week extension to complete and submit its report.
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