“We told NSCDC guards people were dying, but they didn’t mind us,” miners reveal agony…Tinubu laments deaths

By Kingston Magare 18.9.2026
As outrage continue to greet Minna Niger State over the death of 37 miners at a detention cell of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) survivors have revealed sordid details of what led to the tragic turn of events.
The miners who were arrested by the NSCDC around the Lt. General Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi Estate in Minna, for an alleged illegal mining, saw 65 of them crammed into a holding cell meant for 10 people.
“They locked us in a very small room. We were 17 in number, then they added more people, and we started complaining that the room was small,” said one of the survivors narrated.
“As they were about to lock the room, they sprayed something that looked like perfume, and the smell started disturbing everyone in the room…we started to suffocate and gasping for air.
“We pleaded with them to give us water, but they said no one would open the door for us.
“We were screaming for help people are dying one after the other; they did not believe us”.
There were pockets of protests Friday in Minna, but police dispersed the crowd by firing live bullets into the air.
Meanwhile President Bola Tinubu has expressed his condolences over the loss of many lives. He said it was unacceptable for citizens to die while in government custody, lamenting the negligence, abuse, inhumane treatment and dereliction of duty.
NSCDC officials had blamed a strange illness on the massive deaths, but independent findings revealed that they died of suffocation.