Niger 37: ‘One After Another, They Started Dying’: Survivors Recount

The mystery surrounding the deaths of 37 detainees in Minna has deepened after survivors gave accounts of what happened inside the cell before their companions died.

Three survivors stated that an unidentified substance was sprayed into an overcrowded cell after dozens of suspected artisanal miners had been detained.

They said people soon began struggling to breathe, behaving erratically and collapsing.One survivor described the sequence simply: “One after another, they started dying.”

What We Know, and What We Do Not

The detainees were arrested during an NSCDC operation targeting suspected illegal gold mining.

Survivors said the cell became severely overcrowded. They also alleged that detainees complained to guards about the conditions before the substance was sprayed.

But there is a crucial distinction.

The cause of death has not been established. ValidViewNetwork could not independently verify the survivor accounts or determine what substance was allegedly sprayed.

The government has ordered an investigation and suspended senior NSCDC officials.

The tragedy has already produced protests and a 24-hour curfew in Niger State.

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What happens next matters because the victims were in state custody. They had been arrested on suspicion of an offence. They had not been convicted.

That makes the investigation into their final hours a matter not only of mining enforcement, but of detention standards, accountability and the state’s duty of care.

VALIDVIEWNETWORK NOTE: The allegation about a substance being sprayed remains unverified pending forensic and official findings.