The independent commission created by the Government of Nigeria to clarify the death in custody of 37 alleged illegal miners, including 14 minors, has determined that the deaths were due to negligence by the Police in a detention center in Niger state, in the west of the country, and not to an alleged illness, as the agents initially claimed.
According to the report from the agency, cited by the Nigerian newspaper "Punch", the victims would have died from asphyxiation caused by overcrowding in the cells during the night of September 17, while they were held in a police station in the city of Minna.
The document emphasizes that all the deaths, including those of the 14 minors, were perfectly avoidable and proposes the payment of compensation of 1.4 billion naira (around 950,000 euros) to the families of the deceased.
The chairman of the committee and former deputy director general of the State Services Department, Jonathan Kure, has conveyed the conclusions to the Minister of the Interior, Olubunmi Tunji Ojo, and has proposed the immediate dismissal of the commander of the Nigerian civil defense in Niger state, "as well as all other officers who were directly involved in the detention and subsequent death of the miners."
The Interior Minister has fully supported the committee's suggestions and has also ordered the immediate suspension of all agents involved in the cleaning of the detention center which, according to the investigation, would have aimed to eliminate evidence.