Niger State Governor, Mohammed Bago, has disclosed that 67 artisanal and suspected illegal miners were detained in a Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps cell before 37 of them died in custody.

The miners were arrested during NSCDC operations in the M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto areas of Niger State on September 15 and 16, 2026.

The NSCDC had initially attributed the deaths, which were discovered in the early hours of September 17, to a suspected disease outbreak.

However, the Corps later said the actual cause had not been established and that medical and laboratory examinations would determine what happened.

Bago disclosed this while addressing journalists in Minna on Friday as investigations continued into the deaths.

The governor said the exact cause of the deaths had not been established, adding that authorities were considering possible suffocation from overcrowding and exposure to hazardous substances associated with mining activities.

“The first one is that the office of the Niger State Civil Defence arrested 67 artisans and illegal miners and put them in their cell.

“So probably they died of suffocation. Probably the second one is exposure to certain poisons or poisoning substances on the field,” Bago said.

He said medical, forensic and biological teams had been deployed to collect samples that would assist the committee investigating the incident.

Bago stressed the need for autopsies and other examinations to be expedited to establish what caused the deaths.

“It is very important to understand that responsible mining must be the way forward where miners will have to use protective gears and also a lot of advocacy by the ministry must be done and must be continuous where people don’t understand the danger and the consequences of mining,” he said.

The governor said the death of 37 people was significant and should not be treated lightly.

“Even at times of war, if you kill 37 people, is not a small number. So there’s need for us to expedite action in the autopsies that are being done, in the samples that are being taken at the scene and also by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps on the actions of their men who made the arrest,” he said.

Bago also said experts had been deployed to examine the possibility of radiological exposure at the mining site.

The governor urged caution while the investigations were ongoing, with the state government and security agencies seeking to establish the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

The NSCDC had earlier confirmed that scores of suspected illegal miners arrested during operations around the M.I. Wushishi/Lukoto area were found dead in custody on Thursday.

The Corps said the actual cause of death had not been established and that the bodies were taken for medical examination.

The Federal Government has suspended the Niger State NSCDC Commandant, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, and ordered a full investigation into the incident.