The identities of 37 suspected illegal miners who died while in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Niger State have emerged.
The victims were among scores of suspects arrested during NSCDC operations on September 15 and 16 around the Lt Gen Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi Estate in Minna, the state capital.
At the time, the Niger State NSCDC Commandant, Suberu Aniviye, said scores of detainees were found dead in the early hours of September 17 following a suspected disease outbreak. The corps said the actual cause of death would be established through medical examinations.
The deaths prompted the Federal Government to suspend officers involved and constitute an independent committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident, including the arrests, detention and cause of the deaths.
The International Human Rights Commission said it compiled the list of the 37 deceased from records obtained from General Hospital, Minna.
Awaisu Giwa, international peace ambassador of the IHRC, told TheCable on Sunday that the initial list was obtained through the hospital’s mortuary attendant on the instruction of the Chief Medical Director.
Giwa said four additional names were subsequently added after relatives of victims whose names were missing from the hospital records approached the commission.
“We got the list from the CMD of the general hospital. It was written by the mortuary attendant for us, but we are going to the hospital tomorrow for the list to be on the official letterhead of the hospital,” he said.
“The CMD was the one who instructed the mortuary attendant to give us the names. Some people whose relatives were missing are beginning to report in our office.”
According to Giwa, the list would also help the commission facilitate compensation for the families of the deceased.
The 37 names are:
1. Ibrahim Sani
2. Fahad Sa’adu
3. Abdulsalam Ismail
4. Usman Aliyu
5. Abubakar Alhaji
6. Sani Nasir
7. Sanusi Khalid
8. Ahmad Aliyu
9. Safiyanu Abdullahi
10. Suleiman Dantala
11. Idris Haruna
12. Sani Yakubu
13. Safiyanu Abubakar
14. Abdullahi Abubakar
15. Abubakar Musa
16. Abdul Mudassir
17. Suleiman Lawal
18. Usman Abdullahi
19. Samuel Sambo
20. Ibrahim Musa
21. Yusuf Nasiru
22. Umar Lawal
23. Isyaku Amisu
24. Bissallah Adamu
25. Abdulbari Suleiman
26. Shafisu Lado
27. Usman Ahmad
28. Usman Ibrahim
29. Sani Isyaku
30. Musa Ibrahim
31. Idris Bashir
32. Kabiru Suleiman
33. Emmanuel Emeka
34. Mu’awiya AbdulKarim
35. Abdul Gafar Abubakar
36. Usman Haruna
37. Yaro Salihu Sob
According to the IHRC, the last four names were supplied by relatives and were not included in the initial General Hospital, Minna, list.
The identities and circumstances surrounding the deaths remain part of the ongoing investigation.
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