Guards of the Civil Defence allegedly sprayed an unidentified chemical substance into a severely overcrowded holding cell before keeping doors locked as dozens of young detainees choked to death, according to harrowing accounts from survivors.
At least 37 suspects—many of them teenagers rounded up during operations against artisanal gold mining in Niger State—died following the incident at a Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) facility in Minna, the state capital.
The tragic incident, which occurred following raids to curb unregulated mining, has triggered violent public protests, forced a local curfew, and reignited intense scrutiny over the treatment of pre-trial detainees in Nigerian custody.
‘Then, one after another, they started dying’
Survivors recounted how nearly 70 people were forced into a single cell measuring approximately five square metres (16 feet by 16 feet) with only a small, single window for ventilation.
When detainees began pounding on the door and complaining about the suffocating heat and lack of space, officers allegedly discharged a substance underneath the locked door.
“At first, we thought they were trying to put some scent into the room because there were so many people inside,” one survivor, Isah, saidin a video interview with Reuters.
Within an hour, panic took hold as detainees began struggling for air, displaying disoriented behavior, and collapsing onto one another.
“Then, one after another, they started dying,” Isah said, describing scenes of sheer desperation as screams for help went unheeded by prison staff.
Another survivor, 29-year-old Dauda Shehu, detailed the immediate physical reaction inside the packed space.
“They sprayed something which smelled like a perfume,” Shehu said. “Hours later we started feeling throats itching, then we started struggling to breathe. People started dying.”
In footage aired on TVC News, a third survivor recounted the ordeal directly to Niger State Governor Umar Bago and Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
“We kept complaining that it [the cell] was tiny, yet none of them listened to us,” the survivor said in Hausa. “We again complained but were ignored, they then locked the cell and sprayed something like scent. I don’t know what was sprayed but… it smelt like pepper.”
Government panel and forensic probe
These accounts contradict initial statements issued by the NSCDC, which first suggested an outbreak of an unspecified disease before retracting the claim to state the cause of death was officially undetermined.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered a full-scale inquiry into the tragedy, following the preliminary suspension of senior NSCDC officers stationed in the region.
Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo announced a 10-member investigative panel—comprising retired intelligence officers, legal experts, medical specialists, and human rights advocates—promising full transparency to the public.
“To Nigerians, I say this: We owe you the truth. This committee will give you the truth,” Tunji-Ojo said.
Medical staff at Minna General Hospital noted that while the deceased showed no outward signs of physical torture, several bodies exhibited skin blistering, bite marks, and brown fluid discharging from their noses and mouths.
Pathologists have completed initial forensic examinations on three bodies, with biological samples dispatched to laboratories in Lagos for comprehensive chemical analysis.
Most of the victims were buried immediately by grieving relatives in line with Islamic customs, while hospital authorities confirmed that remaining bodies stay in the mortuary pending further forensic review.
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