Police in Nigeria fired tear gas at protesters who gathered after 37 miners died in custody in Niger state, prompting the suspension of the state commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
The miners had been arrested earlier in the week on suspicion of illegal mining, Niger state governor Mohammed Umaru Bago said on Thursday.
Dozens of young people, including miners and relatives of those who died, assembled near the civil defence corps’ office on Friday. Officers cordoned off the area before using tear gas to disperse the crowd.
The civil defence corps said the deaths were linked to a suspected disease outbreak. Survivors, however, said the miners had died from suffocation.
Protesters alleged that the miners were killed in retaliation for earlier attacks by some miners on civil defence officers. The claim has not been independently established.
Nigeria’s interior minister said a full investigation would be conducted, while confirming that the commandant remained suspended.
“It is an unfortunate incident, however, a full investigation will be conducted while the commandant under whose watch this happened remains suspended,” the minister said in a statement.
Illegal mining is a serious problem in Nigeria, where analysts say it funds the activities of armed groups, some of which control mines.
