37 Niger Miners’ Death: Why I Offered My Son’s Body For Autopsy – Father

… Probe panel suspends sitting indefinitely

As the Federal Government Investigative committee began interface with parents of the 37 people who died in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), in Niger state, a parent, Emeka Onyenuchiyi, has disclosed why he offered his son’s body for autopsy.

Onyenuchiyi, who is the father of 22-year-old Emmanuel Emeka, who was one of the deceased victims, said he offered his son in order to get Justice.

He spoke to LEADERSHIP while waiting to be called for evidence before the federal government committee that started sitting in Minna on Tuesday at the Emir’s palace, that since the demise of his son, he had been going around to ensure justice for the victims.

READ ALSO: Niger Miners’ Deaths: No One Culpable Will Escape —Minister

According to him, “My son was among the dead. He was not an illegal miner but was detained for six days on financial allegations before the incident occurred. The corpse has not been released to me. It is still with them as they use the body for an autopsy. They talked to me about it”

He said the authorities said he should wait until the investigations  were over before they handed  over his son’s corpse to him, which he obliged for the sake of justice

He noted that other parents might not have agreed for the bodies of their children to be used, but he voluntarily agreed in the interest of justice

Onyenuchiyi, like other parents, lamented that there had been no emissaries or any show of empathy from the authorities, apart from invitations to appear before various committees.

He said, “Now I am here at the Palace on the invitation of the Federal Government committee. This is the fourth or so panel  I am attending. I learnt they set up five committees “.

He said, “My son was among the dead. He was not an illegal miner but was detained for six days for financial allegations before the incident happened. The corpse has not been released to me. It is still with them as they use the body for an autopsy. They talked to me about it, saying I should wait until the investigations are finished. I voluntarily agreed”.

Another 60-year-old parent, Sani DanBauchi, who is the father of a 16-year-old victim, Abdullahi, however, said he had buried his son but lamented that several times they had been invited to the palace to meet various committees.

He said they had heard about donations, but none had been disbursed to them, and noted, “You can see we have been here since morning, nobody offers even water, it is now 3 pm, that is how we have been facing various committees.”

Meanwhile, the federal government committee is expected to conclude the interface with the parents of the deceased and the survivors this week.

… Probe panel suspends sitting indefinitely

The commission of inquiry set up by the Niger state government on the death of 37 miners in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps NSCDC  has postponed the inaugural sitting indefinitely.

The Governor of Niger State last week inaugurated the commission to look into the arrest, legality of the custody, treatment of the victims while in custody and the circumstances of their deaths.

Similarly, the commission was to inquire into the responsibility and accountability of officers, medical forensic investigations and evidence, and make its findings and recommendations public for action.

The secretary of the eleven-member commission, Mohammed Aliyu Kutigi, scheduled Tuesday for the commission’s inaugural sitting but later announced its indefinite postponement.

“This is to inform the general public and all concerned that the inaugural sitting of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry, earlier scheduled to hold today, Tuesday, 29 September 2026, has been postponed due to circumstances beyond the control of the Commission”, he said.

According to him, a new date for the inaugural sitting will be communicated in due course, saying that the Commission regretted any inconvenience the postponement might have caused

LEADERSHIP, however, gathered that the postponement must have been caused by the ongoing interface between the parents of the 37 deceased Miners and the members of the federal government committee on the incident.