THE INDEPENDENT Committee of Inquiry set up to investigate the reported deaths of 37 people in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Niger State has commenced its investigation, with its medical team beginning work to establish the causes and circumstances of the fatalities.
The committee, inaugurated by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, held its inaugural meeting immediately after its inauguration and adopted a work plan to guide the investigation, according to a statement by its Secretary, Prof. Isa Hayatu Chiroma, SAN.
The committee said it would visit relevant locations, engage government agencies, interview survivors, suspects and other persons connected to the incident, and obtain documents and other materials considered necessary to establish what happened.
It also disclosed that its medical team had commenced investigations aimed at determining the causes, mechanisms and manner of the deaths.
The committee urged members of the public to support its work and said it would invite memoranda from individuals and organisations with relevant information. It added that details on the procedure, venue and date for physical submission of memoranda would be announced later.
The investigation follows the deaths of 37 people who had been detained by the NSCDC Niger State Command after enforcement operations against suspected illegal mining activities.
The detainees were arrested in the M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto areas of Niger State on September 15 and 16, according to information released by Nigerian authorities. The deaths were reported on September 17.
The circumstances surrounding the deaths remain the subject of investigation. The NSCDC initially said the fatalities might have been connected to a suspected disease outbreak, while stressing that the actual cause had not been established pending medical and laboratory examinations.
That explanation has been disputed by accounts from survivors and other reports. Reuters reported that survivors described severe overcrowding in the detention facility and alleged that an unidentified substance was sprayed into the cell before detainees began experiencing breathing difficulties. The agency said no definitive cause of death had yet been established.
The differing accounts have heightened public concern over the conditions in which the detainees were held and the treatment they received before their deaths.
Protests were reported in Minna following the incident, prompting authorities to impose a curfew amid clashes between demonstrators and security personnel.
The Federal Government subsequently constituted the 10-member independent committee on the directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Its mandate includes establishing the identities of the deceased and examining their arrest, detention and deaths, as well as determining whether responsibility, negligence, misconduct or other forms of wrongdoing were involved.
The committee is chaired by retired Deputy Director-General of the Department of State Services, Jonathan Kure, while Chiroma, a former Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, serves as secretary.
Its membership also includes a retired senior police officer, a professor of histopathology, representatives of the Minna Emirate Council and Niger State Government, a representative of the Miners Association of Nigeria, lawyer and human rights activist Deji Adeyanju, journalist Zainab Suleiman Okino and public affairs analyst George Agbakahi.
The Interior Ministry said the committee was expected to operate independently and submit its report within two weeks. The government also suspended the Niger State NSCDC Commandant and 20 other officers linked to the incident pending the outcome of the investigation.
At the inauguration of the panel in Abuja on September 22, Tunji-Ojo said the committee should work without interference and establish the root cause of the incident.
The ministry said the government considered an independent investigation necessary to determine what happened and recommend measures to prevent a recurrence.
The latest development therefore shifts the focus from preliminary accounts of the deaths to a broader fact-finding exercise covering the detainees’ arrest, the conditions of their detention, medical treatment and the precise circumstances in which they died.
With the committee now inviting evidence and its medical team conducting its own inquiries, the findings are expected to help resolve the conflicting accounts surrounding the deaths and determine whether any individuals or institutions bear responsibility.
For now, the committee has appealed for cooperation from the public as it begins the process of establishing the facts.
