ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria’s government has appointed a 10-member independent committee to investigate the deaths of 37 people detained by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Niger State on suspicion of illegal mining.
Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo constituted the committee on Saturday, September 19, 2026, following a directive from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a comprehensive, transparent and unhindered inquiry, according to a statement issued by the State House.
The deaths occurred on Thursday, September 17, while the detainees were in the custody of the NSCDC’s Niger State Command. The Associated Press independently reported that the 37 people were found dead inside an NSCDC cell in Minna, the Niger State capital.
Authorities had not established the cause of the deaths as of September 20. Claims that the detainees may have suffocated and suggestions of a possible disease outbreak remained competing, unconfirmed accounts rather than official findings.
The investigative committee has been directed to identify each person who died and examine the circumstances surrounding their arrest and detention. Its mandate also includes determining the cause and circumstances of the deaths and assessing whether any person or institution bears responsibility.
The panel is expected to investigate possible complicity, negligence and misconduct. It must recommend appropriate action based on its findings, consider whether compensation should be provided and propose safeguards intended to prevent similar incidents.
The committee has two weeks to complete its inquiry and submit a report to the interior minister.
Jonathan Kure, a retired deputy director-general of the Department of State Services, will chair the panel. Professor Isa Hayatu Chiroma, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former director-general of the Nigerian Law School, will serve as secretary.
The federal government also suspended 20 named NSCDC officers connected to the Niger State Command, in addition to the commandant, bringing the number of suspended personnel to 21. The suspensions will remain in place pending the outcome of the investigation.
The State House statement did not attribute guilt to any of the suspended personnel. The inquiry is tasked with establishing whether individual actions, failures of supervision or other conduct contributed to the deaths.
Tunji-Ojo warned against interference with the panel’s work. “Any attempt to destroy or conceal evidence, intimidate witnesses or obstruct the investigation will be treated as a serious offence,” he said in the State House statement.
The warning places evidence preservation and witness protection among the immediate priorities of the inquiry. An unhindered investigation will require access to detention records, information about the detainees’ arrests and evidence concerning the conditions in which they were held.
The committee’s responsibility to establish the identities of the deceased is also a central part of its mandate. The government’s announcement referred to the 37 people as detainees held on suspicion of illegal mining, but the panel must determine who they were as part of its investigation.
The inquiry will need to distinguish verified evidence from the unconfirmed explanations that emerged after the deaths. Neither suffocation nor disease had been accepted by the government as the cause by September 20, and the committee’s findings are expected to provide the official account after its two-week review.
The case has prompted action at the highest levels of the federal government, with the president directing the investigation, the interior minister establishing the panel and the government suspending personnel before the inquiry is completed. The committee’s final report is expected to address both accountability for the deaths and institutional measures aimed at preventing a recurrence.
