Nigerian police probe death in custody of 37 illegal mining suspects
Officials blame disease outbreak for deaths as survivor suggests they suffocated.
Nigerian police have launched an investigation into the deaths of 37 people who were in custody after being arrested for illegal mining.
Officials on Thursday linked the deaths to an outbreak of disease. However, the AFP news agency said that an intelligence report suggested that overcrowding and poor ventilation inside the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) detention facility in the northeastern Niger State may have been to blame.
The suspects were arrested during an operation targeting illegal mining on Tuesday and Wednesday, the head of the NSCDC in Niger State, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, said in a statement. The region is known for small-scale gold mining.
“We were jam-packed and there was no ventilation for us to breathe well,” Shehu said. “All of a sudden, we realised that we could not breathe and we started scrambling to get fresh air.”