Not All 37 Who Died In NSCDC Custody Were Artisanal Miners – Bago

Niger State governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, has explained that preliminary findings showed that not all the 37 people who died in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Minna, the state capital, were artisanal miners

Bago stated this at a three-day Fida’a prayer held at the Tunga Central Mosque in Minna for the victims.
According to him, “preliminary information indicated that some people were already in the detention cells before the miners were brought in; the investigation will unravel the details.”

He said the investigation would determine who was detained earlier, who was brought in later, and the identities and ages of those arrested.

‘For instance, there was one particular Ibo man who allegedly stole from his boss, who was in detention two days before the meeting. The others were arrested into the cell, and he was among those who died,” Bago added

He assured the families of those who died of justice while saying that the state government was investigating the actual cause of the deaths to establish the actual circumstances surrounding the deaths.
The governor said, “Government is doing everything possible to get to the crux of this matter. When that is done, it will be made very public. We are not going to take anything for granted. We are going to probe deeply so that we can get the real causes of these deaths,” Bago said.

He also disclosed that the government would provide palliatives and other forms of support to the families of the deceased, while the Emir of Minna would supervise the distribution of the assistance to the affected victims.

He said that the government would also assist survivors and therefore appealed to Minna residents, particularly the Tunga people, who were the worst affected by the deaths