Families of 37 artisanal miners who died in Nigerian custody want prosecutions and seized property returned, saying no compensation replaces their loss.
Families of the 37 artisanal miners who died in Nigerian custody last month are demanding prosecutions and the return of property seized during their arrests, saying no amount of money can replace the dead.
A presidential panel reported on Tuesday that the detainees, held as suspected illegal miners by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Niger state, died from overcrowding, extreme heat, dehydration and neglect.
The Associated Press, reporting the panel’s findings, described the deaths as suffocation in an overcrowded cell, and French broadcaster France 24 reported investigators saying the men screamed for help as jailors ignored them. Some of the dead were teenagers.
The government response
Nigeria’s government welcomed the findings. Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said the report had been forwarded to the attorney-general for immediate judicial action.
He did not respond to requests for comment on when survivors and families would be compensated. The deaths triggered protests in Minna, the Niger state capital, and condemnation from rights groups, renewing scrutiny of detention conditions and the treatment of suspects awaiting trial.
What the families say.
Zainab Salihu, whose son died, said the deaths had worsened her husband’s health and that he later died; Reuters was unable to verify the circumstances of his death. “No matter how much money they give us, it will never bring our children back,” she said. “What we wanted was for our children to be alive and return to us.”
Dantala Tanko, whose 25-year-old son Suleiman died, prayed at his grave: “Now he is gone, and this is deeply painful for me. I know he will never return.”
What the survivors want
Dauda Shehu, 25, welcomed the findings but insisted on accountability: “Officers who demonstrate such disregard for human life should not remain in positions of authority.”
Abdulsalam Yakubu, 23, said action had been slow and asked for the return of a motorcycle, phones, mining equipment and gold he said were seized at arrest.
“We have suffered enough. We are asking for justice, the promised support, and the return of our property so that we can begin to rebuild our lives,” he told Reuters.
The wider context
Mining is a major source of livelihood in northern Nigeria, and Zamfara state alone has seen more than 500 children die from lead poisoning linked to artisanal gold mining since 2020, according to state data cited by Al Jazeera.
The Niger state deaths have become a test of whether findings from a presidential panel convert into charges, compensation and restitution.
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