The probe panel set up by the Federal Government to investigate the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Minna, Niger state, has recommended the dismissal and prosecution of senior officers involved in the incident.
Chairman of the 10-member independent committee,Jonathan Kure, while presenting the panel’s report to the minister of interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, in Abuja on Tuesday, said the committee recommended the payment of N1.4 billion in compensation to the families of 33 victims and 44 survivors.
He said the deaths were avoidable, adding that the victims, including 14 minors, were held in inhuman conditions.
The committee recommended the summary dismissal of the Niger state commandant of the NSCDC and other officers directly involved in the detention of the miners and their eventual deaths. It also called for institutional reforms to strengthen the leadership of the corps.
Tunji-Ojo, who received the report, promised to implement the recommendations to ensure justice for all affected persons.
He also directed the NSCDC commandant to immediately suspend all officers who cleaned up the detention centre in an alleged attempt to destroy evidence.
The committee said the miners died from asphyxiation, a condition in which the body is deprived of adequate oxygen.
The Federal Government constituted the committee on September 19 following a directive by President Bola Tinubu for a “full and transparent” investigation into the deaths.
