Nigeria halts mining in Niger State after deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners

Nigeria’s Niger State has suspended all mining activities and imposed a round-the-clock curfew in the state capital, Minna, following the deaths of 37 people arrested during a government crackdown on suspected illegal mining.

The deaths were discovered on Thursday after scores of people were arrested by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) at mining sites near Minna earlier in the week.

Authorities have not established the cause of death. The state government has ordered an inquiry and forensic examinations and autopsies to determine what happened.

Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago announced the suspension of mining activities in the state on Friday, while the curfew in Minna was imposed after protests followed the movement of the bodies to a mortuary.

The governor said the curfew was intended to maintain order following the protests, while the state also declared three days of mourning for the deceased. A political rally scheduled for Saturday was subsequently cancelled.

The NSCDC initially suggested that a suspected disease outbreak could have contributed to the deaths, but its national headquarters said the cause had not been established and would require medical and laboratory confirmation.

Governor Bago also mentioned possible suffocation due to the number of detainees in a cell, but this has not been confirmed by investigators.

The deaths have triggered separate investigations by the police, the State Security Service and the NSCDC. Nigeria’s Interior Minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has also suspended the Niger State civil-defence commandant, Suberu Aniviye, pending a federal investigation.

The NSCDC has directed Aniviye and senior officers responsible for operations, mining, legal affairs, intelligence and investigations to report to its headquarters in Abuja, while a new commandant has been deployed to Niger State.

The crackdown is part of Nigeria’s wider effort to tackle unlicensed mining and bring artisanal and small-scale mining activities under government control.

Niger State has a significant formal and informal mining sector. State authorities said in 2024 that 880 mining companies and cooperatives had been registered, while mining cadastre records showed 578 mineral titles in the state, including 369 for gold.

The Mining Marshals, established in 2024 to combat illegal mining, have identified hundreds of suspected illegal mining sites in Niger State and arrested hundreds of people during enforcement operations.

The deaths have also drawn calls for an independent investigation, with Amnesty International raising concerns about the circumstances of the arrests and detention conditions.