The Federal Government has suspended 20 officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and has constituted a 10-member independent committee to investigate the deaths of 37 people who died in NSCDC custody in Niger State.
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, announced the measures in a statement on Saturday, saying the committee was set up following a directive by President Bola Tinubu for a comprehensive, transparent and unhindered investigation into the incident, which occurred on Thursday, 17 September 2026.
The victims had been arrested and detained by the NSCDC Niger State Command on suspicion of illegal mining.
The suspended officers include those involved in the arrests, investigation, detention and supervision of the detainees, in addition to the previously suspended Niger State Commandant, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye.
Describing the deaths as deeply disturbing, the Minister said the government owes the families of the deceased and the Nigerian public a transparent account of the events leading to the incident.
The committee’s membership spans law, medicine, and civil society, including Prof. Isa Hayatu Chiroma (SAN), former Director-General of the Nigeria Law School, as Secretary, and Prof. Olayinka Buhari, Professor of Histopathology and former Chief Medical Director of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital.
Also on the panel are a retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Hosea Hassan Karma; a representative of the Minna Emirate Council; a representative of the Niger State Government; National Secretary of the Miners Association of Nigeria, Liman Sulaiman; lawyer and human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju; Blueprint Newspaper journalist, Zainab Suleiman Okino; and public affairs analyst, Dr George Agbakahi.
The committee may co-opt relevant experts, visit locations connected to the incident, access facilities and documents and receive memoranda from members of the public, and has two weeks to complete its investigation and submit its report to the minister.
The Minister directed the committee to determine responsibility, complicity, negligence, and misconduct, and to recommend appropriate action, compensation where applicable, and measures to prevent a recurrence, while also directing the NSCDC leadership and all relevant officers to cooperate fully with the Committee and preserve all records and material evidence connected to the incident.
He warned that any attempt to destroy or conceal evidence, intimidate witnesses or obstruct the investigation would be treated as a serious offence.
