Evidence altered after 33 detainees died in Minna, Nigeria
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Leadership
A Nigerian ministerial commission accuses civil defence officers of cleaning and altering the detention site before investigators arrived, after 33 detainees died in Minna. The absence of the 16 September register and the burial of 30 bodies complicated the examinations, according to a report presented by Jonathan Kure.
The independent ministerial committee investigating the deaths of 33 detainees at a centre run by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Minna has accused officers of cleaning, disinfecting and altering the detention area before the independent forensic experts arrived. Its chairman, Jonathan Kure, presented the findings on Tuesday 27 October in Abuja to Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, according to Leadership.
The committee believes these interventions compromised part of the forensic examinations. It also noted the absence of the detention register for 16 September 2026. Thirty of the 33 people who died had been buried before the commission’s medical team arrived, meaning it could carry out only three autopsies. The panel nevertheless says it established the essential facts from testimony by survivors, officers and medical staff, as well as documents. It recorded 41 survivors, including nine minors among those interviewed, and 14 minors among the dead.
The detainees were crammed into a cell of about 20 square metres, where nearly 50 men were held. The report attributed the deaths to acute respiratory failure consistent with asphyxiation linked to the detention conditions, exacerbated by heat, dehydration and poor ventilation. It also noted the lack of a rapid response after repeated distress calls and command failures. The committee recommends the dismissal of officers deemed primarily responsible, criminal prosecutions and investigations into suspected extortion and the mismanagement of evidence.
These findings supplement the investigation published on 27 October, which attributed the deaths of minor detainees to asphyxiation, as well as the allegations of misconduct against five officers. They follow the report of 37 deaths attributed to asphyxiation and the allegations against five officers.
