Survivors of a Nigerian detention centre where 37 people died say guards sprayed an unidentified substance into an overcrowded cell and kept the doors locked while detainees struggled to breathe and cried for help.
The deaths in Minna, the capital of Niger State, have triggered protests and prompted President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to order an investigation. Several senior officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.
The detainees, many of them teenagers and young men working in artisanal gold mines, had been arrested during raids on suspected illegal mining operations.
Survivor Adamu Isah, 22, said around 17 detainees were initially placed in a cell measuring about five square metres on 17 September, before nearly 50 others were brought in.
After the detainees complained about overcrowding, Isah said officers sprayed an unidentified substance under the door.
“At first, we thought they were trying to put some scent into the room because there were so many people inside,” he said.
Around an hour later, Isah said, detainees began behaving erratically, losing consciousness and dying.
Another survivor, Dauda Shehu, described a substance that “smelled like a perfume”.
“Hours later we started feeling throats itching, then we started struggling to breathe. People started dying,” he said.
A third survivor gave a similar account to Nigerian television, saying detainees repeatedly complained about the cramped conditions before something smelling like “pepper” was sprayed inside.
The NSCDC initially said a disease outbreak may have caused the deaths, but later said the cause remained unknown and would be investigated.
Many of the victims were buried shortly afterwards in accordance with Islamic tradition, while six bodies remained at Niger State General Hospital.
Protests over the deaths led to clashes on Friday in which one person was killed, prompting authorities to impose a 24-hour curfew.
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