The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has constituted a team to independently investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Minna, Niger State.
The team will be headed by Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former NBA General Secretary, Jonathan Gunu Taidi, the NBA President, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, disclosed in a statement on Saturday.
The association said the team would engage the families of the deceased, surviving detainees and their relatives, relevant authorities and other stakeholders while monitoring investigations already underway.
The move comes amid growing scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding the deaths, which occurred after the detainees were arrested during operations against suspected illegal mining in the Minna area.
The detainees were arrested on September 15 and 16, while the deaths were discovered on September 17.
The cause of death has not been conclusively established. Authorities have initiated medical, forensic and other investigations to determine what happened.
The NBA said investigators must establish how 37 people could die within such a short period in government custody and determine the conditions under which they were detained.
It called for evidence to be preserved and for proper forensic and medical examinations to be conducted. It also urged authorities to protect surviving detainees and material witnesses and make the findings of investigations public to the fullest extent permitted by law.
The association said reports concerning overcrowding, inadequate ventilation and the treatment of detainees should be investigated rather than accepted as established facts.
“The deaths of 37 persons while in the custody of a government agency is an event of the utmost gravity and demands a thorough, independent, transparent and credible investigation,” the NBA said.
The association also raised concerns over reports that children may have been among those detained and killed.
It called for the official identification and determination of the ages of all victims and urged investigators to establish whether children found at mining sites were victims of exploitation requiring state protection.
The NBA further said the investigation should extend beyond the people physically working at the mining sites.
It urged authorities to identify those who owned, financed, controlled or profited from the alleged illegal mining operations and pursue them where evidence establishes criminal responsibility.
The association also stressed that the deceased were suspects and had not been convicted of any offence.
“A suspect is not a convict, whether rich or poor, powerful or powerless,” it said, arguing that the presumption of innocence must guide the treatment of anyone whose liberty has been taken away by the state.
The NBA acknowledged measures already taken by the government, including the suspension of NSCDC officials and investigations by relevant agencies.
President Bola Tinubu has ordered a full and transparent investigation into the deaths and said the government would hold accountable anyone found responsible through abuse, negligence or dereliction of duty.
The Federal Government subsequently constituted a 10-member independent committee to investigate the incident. The committee, headed by retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police Hosea Hassan Karma, has two weeks to submit its report.
Twenty additional NSCDC officers have also been suspended alongside the Niger State commandant pending the outcome of the investigation.
The NBA said the measures would only be meaningful if the investigations were independent, thorough and transparent, with accountability following where responsibility is established.
It urged citizens to remain calm and allow the process to proceed, warning that violence and destruction would not restore the lives lost.
The association said it would continue to monitor the investigation and would be present if prosecutions arising from the incident eventually reach the courts.
