Minna deaths: commission urges Nigeria to apologise over 33 detainees
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Leadership
The ministerial commission of inquiry has asked the Nigerian government to apologise to families and survivors after 33 people detained in Minna died, including 14 minors. Its report attributes the deaths to overcrowding, detention conditions and failures of supervision, and rules out an epidemic, according to commission chair Jonathan Kure.
The independent ministerial commission tasked with investigating the deaths of 33 detainees in the custody of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Minna has recommended that the federal government apologise to the bereaved families, survivors and the public. Its chair, Jonathan Kure, submitted the report to Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo on 27 October in Abuja.
The commission attributed the deaths to extreme overcrowding, illegal and unsuitable detention conditions, ignored calls for help and failures of supervision. Fourteen of those who died were minors. The commission recorded 41 survivors.
According to the investigation, about 50 men were held in a cell of around 20 square metres, without adequate ventilation, running water or functioning toilets. Detainees called for help and water from the evening of 16 September, but officers allegedly did not respond in time. The deaths occurred between the evening of 16 September and the morning of 17 September 2026.
Medical and forensic evidence indicates acute respiratory failure consistent with asphyxiation caused by the environment, rather than an epidemic. Thirty of the deceased had been buried before the commission’s medical team arrived, so it was able to examine only three bodies. The report supplements the investigation into the deaths in Minna and its findings on altered evidence, published on 27 October.
