HURIWA: 37 Suspects Die in NSCDC Custody — ‘This Is State-Sponsored Terrorism’

PRESS STATEMENT

Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA)

HURIWA: 37 Suspects Die in NSCDC Custody — ‘This Is State-Sponsored Terrorism’

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has condemned in the strongest terms the reported death of 37 suspected illegal miners in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Niger State, describing the incident as a grave state-sponsored human rights violation that must not be swept under the carpet.
HURIWA says Nigeria cannot continue to operate a system in which citizens are arrested alive by security agencies, taken into lawful custody and subsequently die in detention without an immediate, transparent and independent account of what happened to them.
The rights group says the reported deaths of the suspects in Minna raise disturbing questions about what occurred between the time they were arrested around the M.I. Wushishi/Lukoto axis on September 15 and 16, 2026, and the time their bodies were deposited at the General Hospital, Minna.
HURIWA asks bluntly: How did 37 people arrested alive end up dead in the custody of a government security agency?
The organisation says the sheer number of deaths makes the incident too serious to be treated as an ordinary internal disciplinary matter.
HURIWA notes that the NSCDC has announced an investigative panel and said the cause of death has not been medically or laboratory confirmed. The organisation welcomes the decision to investigate but insists that the NSCDC cannot investigate itself and expect Nigerians to accept the outcome as independent.
According to HURIWA, an institution whose personnel had custody of the deceased cannot simultaneously be the investigator, potential accused party and final authority determining whether its own officers bear responsibility.
“You cannot arrest citizens alive, lock them up under your custody and then investigate yourselves when they emerge dead. That is not independent justice,” HURIWA says.
The organisation therefore demands that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Federal Government immediately constitute an independent judicial or multi-agency panel of inquiry into the deaths.
HURIWA wants the panel to include independent forensic pathologists, medical experts, the National Human Rights Commission, civil society representatives and other credible institutions with no connection to the detention operation.
The group demands full autopsies and independent laboratory and toxicological examinations to determine the precise cause of every death.
It also demands that investigators establish the condition of each suspect at the point of arrest, the number of detainees held, the cells and facilities used, the duration of detention, food and water provided, medical treatment administered, personnel on duty and every movement or transfer involving the suspects.
HURIWA further demands that all available CCTV footage, detention registers, medical records, arrest records, duty rosters and communication logs relating to the detainees be preserved and subjected to independent scrutiny.
The organisation says any officer found, after due process, to have unlawfully caused, facilitated or negligently contributed to the deaths must face criminal prosecution, including murder or other appropriate charges where the evidence supports such charges.
HURIWA also calls for the immediate suspension of officers directly implicated by preliminary evidence, pending the outcome of the independent investigation.
The rights group says officers of the state must understand that lawful custody does not confer a licence to abuse, torture, neglect or unlawfully expose detainees to conditions capable of causing death.
“A suspect is not a corpse. An arrest warrant is not a death warrant. Custody is not a licence to kill,” HURIWA says.
The organisation demands that the families of all the deceased be formally notified, allowed access to independent medical information and involved in the process of establishing the circumstances surrounding the deaths.
Where state responsibility is established, HURIWA demands ₦100 million compensation for each deceased victim, in addition to prosecution of responsible officials and any other remedies available under Nigerian law.
HURIWA says the Federal Government must also immediately account for every person currently detained in connection with the Niger State mining enforcement operation and ensure that their health, safety and fundamental rights are protected.
The organisation warns against any attempt to attribute the deaths to an alleged disease before credible medical and laboratory evidence establishes such a conclusion.
HURIWA says the deaths must not disappear into the familiar cycle of arrest, death, internal investigation and silence.
The group insists that Nigeria’s security agencies must understand that the constitutional rights of citizens do not disappear at the entrance of a detention facility.
HURIWA therefore calls on the Federal Government to treat the Niger deaths as a national human rights emergency and immediately establish an independent inquiry capable of determining responsibility, securing justice for the dead and preventing a repetition.
Signed:
Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko
National Coordinator
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA)
18th September, 2026