By Ibrahim Ndamitso and Ahmed Kingimi
MINNA, Nigeria, Sept 22 (Reuters) – Nigerian prison guards sprayed an unidentified substance into a crowded cell where dozens of detainees died and kept the doors locked, ignoring cries for help, according to three survivors.
The 37 deaths, which included many teenagers working in artisanal gold mines, have triggered protests in Nigeria, raising fresh concerns about conditions in detention facilities and how the country’s security agencies treat suspects who are often held for extended periods while awaiting trial.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) paramilitary agency had raided suspected illegal gold mines and locked up dozens of miners in Minna, the capital of Niger State, as part of efforts to regulate mining.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered an investigation into the deaths. His government earlier suspended some senior officials from the NSCDC, pending the outcome of the investigation.
The NSCDC, Nigeria’s interior ministry, which oversees the agency, and the Niger state government, did not respond to written questions from Reuters. Authorities presented the bodies to the media on Thursday but it was not possible for Reuters to determine the cause of death.
When the deaths were confirmed on Thursday morning, NSCDC initially said a disease outbreak may have been involved in their deaths, but later said the cause of death had not been established and would be investigated.
“THEY STARTED DYING”
Adamu Isah, 22, said he was among a group of teenagers and young men rounded up in a sweep last week of gold mines outside Minna.
The group was driven back into town and, at around 8 p.m. (1900 GMT) on September 17, around 17 of them were locked up in a cell measuring 5 square metres, or about 16 feet by 16 feet, with a small, single window.
Isah said nearly 50 more detained miners were moved into the cell, and they started complaining to the guards that it was too full. Shortly afterwards, officers sprayed an unidentified substance under the door, he said.
“At first, we thought they were trying to put some scent into the room because there were so many people inside,” he told Reuters.
About an hour later, detainees began behaving erratically and falling unconscious. “Then, one after another, they started dying,” he said, now back home recovering from the ordeal.
Dauda Shehu, 29, said he was also among those who survived the incident.
“They sprayed something which smelled like a perfume,” he said. “Hours later we started feeling throats itching, then we started struggling to breathe. People started dying.”
Isah and Shehu described scenes of panic as detainees shouted for help and pounded on the door. Some victims appeared disoriented and became aggressive before collapsing, Isah said.
Reuters could not independently verify the accounts or determine what might have been sprayed into the cells, or why.
Another survivor gave a similar account of a product being sprayed into the cramped cell.
In a clip shown on Nigeria’s TVC News, a local channel, the unnamed survivor recounted his story to senior government officials, including Niger State Governor Umar Bago and Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Nigeria’s interior minister.
“We kept complaining that it (cell) was tiny, yet none of them listened to us,” he said, speaking in Hausa.
“We again complained but were ignored, they then locked the cell and sprayed something like scent,” he said, adding that people began collapsing soon after. “I don’t know what was sprayed but … it smelt like pepper.”
The survivor said he fainted and woke up in the morning.
Many of the victims were buried immediately in accordance with Islamic tradition. A spokesperson for Niger State General Hospital said six bodies remained in the mortuary.
Anger over the incident led to clashes on Friday, which left one person dead and forced Niger officials to impose a 24-hour curfew.
(Reporting by Ibrahim Ndamitso in Minna, Ahmed Kingimi in Maiduguri and Ben Ezeamalu in Lagos, Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Editing by David Lewis and Edward Tobin)
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