The callous disregard for the sanctity of human lives by Nigeria’s security and law enforcement agencies has again come to light following the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Niger State.
According to multiple sources, including the NSCDC and the Niger State government, the suspects, aged between 14 and 18, were arrested during separate raids at illegal mining sites in Lt Gen Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi Estate and Lukoto Village in Minna, Niger State.
There are various accounts of the cause of death. On one hand, one of the survivors, David Shehu, narrated that the suspects were crammed into a cell with no ventilation, depriving them of air to breathe. Shehu stated that NSCDC personnel turned a deaf ear to all their pleas, including banging on the cell door, to save them from suffocation.
On the other hand, Niger State Governor, Mohammed Bago disclosed that noticeable foam in the mouths of the deceased, blood in their nostrils, and peeling of their skins suggest that they might have been exposed to chemicals or poisonous substances.
Regardless of the cause of death, the incontrovertible fact remains that 37 teenagers were taken alive into the custody of the NSCDC, and they did not come out alive.
The National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity) notes with profound sadness the grave and disturbing circumstances leading to the death of these teenagers. Our thoughts and condolences go to the families, relatives and communities of the deceased. We mourn with the families of these 37 teenagers whose lives have been abruptly and tragically cut short. We stand with them in their moment of grief and join them in their demand for justice and appropriate redress.
We are aware of the devastating effects of illegal mining and the responsibility of the government to protect Nigeria’s environment, communities and the economy. However an allegation of illegal mining is not a conviction. The authority of the state to arrest, investigate and prosecute does not give it the power to disregard the sanctity of lives of those in its custody. The fight against illegal mining must therefore be accompanied by due process, professional enforcement, humane detention conditions, access to legal representation, timely judicial oversight and proper medical care in custody.
Section 35 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees the right to personal liberty, including the right to be informed in writing of the reason for arrest and to be brought before a court within a reasonable time, typically 24 to 48 hours. Also, Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted to reinforce global protection of fundamental rights, states: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
NAS/PC commends the Federal Government for its swift action in suspending the NSCDC Commandant, Niger State, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, and 20 other officers, pending investigation of the incident. We have also taken note of the directive of President Bola Tinubu for a ‘’full and transparent investigation’’ and the setting up of a 10-man independent investigative panel to unravel the circumstances surrounding the arrest and death of the detainees. We also acknowledge the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji Ojo’s tough talk on preservation of materials and records connected to the incident and warnings against destruction and concealment of evidence.
However, without prejudice to the steps already taken by the Federal Government and the conduct of the investigative committee and its findings, the tragedy in Minna mirrors the fundamental underpinnings of the interaction between ordinary Nigerians, especially the poor, and law enforcement agencies. The experience of ordinary Nigerians in the hands of security and law enforcement agencies has been one of confrontation, brutality, unfairness, disregard for due process, and heartless contempt.
This informs the widespread scepticism of Nigerians about the determination of the Federal Government to investigate this latest tragedy, identify wrongdoing, and effect both restitution for the bereaved families and appropriate punishment for any culpable officials.
It is pertinent to point out that the Federal Government’s suspension of its employees is an administrative action, not justice. So Justice must be served for the deceased.
Successive governments in Nigeria are notorious for allowing reports of investigative panels to gather dust. Nigeria has witnessed too many instances in which public outrage follows a tragedy, a committee is constituted, reports are produced, but nothing is heard again, and public attention eventually moves on.
To date, the report of the several human rights violations documented by the Oputa Panel of 2000 has not been released, and its recommendations buried. Also, the reports of the 2016 Zaria Shite Massacre and the 2013 Alakyo killings in Nasarawa State are yet to see the light of day.
More recently, the Federal Government and the various state governments have ignored the reports and recommendations of the ENDSARs panel set up to investigate extrajudicial killings of Nigerians by the Nigeria Police. Despite a resolution from the National Economic Council (NEC) calling for the prosecution of all indicted Policemen for extrajudicial killings, many of them were not prosecuted.
The tragic death of the 37 teenagers in Minna should mark a turning point in the Nigerian government’s indifference to the implementation of investigative panel reports. The investigation of the Minna tragedy must not become another bureaucratic exercise whose findings gather dust. That cycle must end. The culture of recurring impunity must stop.
More importantly, this tragedy must also compel an urgent review of detention practices across the NSCDC commands and other law-enforcement agencies. Overcrowding, medical screening, emergency response, detainee monitoring, separation of minors from adults, sanitation, ventilation, and access to necessities cannot be treated as administrative details. They are matters of life and death. A detention facility must never become a place where a person disappears from public view and loses the protection of the law.
The Federal Government must immediately conduct an urgent audit of law enforcement and security agencies’ detention facilities nationwide, particularly with respect to overcrowding, ventilation, and emergency response.
Beyond that, there should be a broader inquiry into the ownership of the illegal mining sites where the teenagers were arrested. Under the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act 2007. Section 131, unlawful mining without a license is punishable under the law. Nigerians deserve to know the owners of the illegal sites that allowed teenagers, who are supposed to be in school, to engage in cheap labour at illegal mining sites, in gross violation of the Child Rights Act 2003 and the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015. The owners of these illegal mining sites should be arrested and prosecuted along with those found culpable in the death of the 37 teenagers.
The death of suspects in the custody of a law enforcement agency places an enormous responsibility on the Federal Government to unravel the truth and assure Nigerians that it will never happen again. Justice for the deceased teenagers must neither be delayed nor denied. Nigerians are watching!
Dr Charles Meribole
NAS Cap’n
Abuja
