Report37 Miners Dead in Custody: Disease or Suffocation?Aired September 19, 2026 at 10:08 AM UTCWritten September 19, 2026 at 10:11 AM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:1137 accused illegal miners, children among them, are dead in a single Nigerian0:16detention cell.0:17The official cause is disease.0:19Six survivors say it was suffocation in a cell packed with 66 people and no0:23ventilation.0:24The question now driving a second day of protests in Minna, which account is true,0:28and is 37 even the final count.0:3137 people detained on suspicion of illegal mining are dead in facilities run by the0:36Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps.0:38Children are among them, though no confirmed number of miners has been released.0:42The operation began as an enforcement sweep, and it has now become a reckoning over0:46what happens inside the state's custody.0:48The toll was first reported as more than 30.0:50The current figure is 37, and the authorities have not declared the count final.0:55Six people live to describe what happened.0:57Their accounts are the only direct testimony from inside that cell, and they all1:01point to suffocation, not disease.1:03At the heart of it are two mutually exclusive explanations.1:07The official line is disease.1:09The six survivors describe a cell so crowded and airless that people could not1:12breathe.1:13The families say the conditions were the same, no ventilation, no room to move.1:17The number behind that accusation, 66 people crammed into one cell in Borgu.1:22Among them was the son of an informant.1:24Families allege the room had no working ventilation, and that the death toll is a1:28direct consequence.1:29The detention site is in Borgu, a district of Niger state.1:32The protests have taken hold in Minna, the state capital over the same incident, and1:36the distance between them has done nothing to slow the outcry.1:38For a second day, residents of Minna have taken to the streets.1:42They are demanding justice and accountability for the 37 dead, and the crowds have1:47shown no sign of easing.1:48What is established now?1:5037 deaths, children among them.1:52A commander detained, and an investigation into the cell conditions underway.1:56What is not the cause, the final count, and whether anyone beyond that commander2:01answers for it.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗