Nigeria probes deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in custody

Thirty-seven men arrested for suspected illegal mining have died in custody at a detention facility in Niger State, prompting a police investigation.

• Police have launched an investigation after the deaths of 37 suspects in a Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) detention facility in Niger State.
• NSCDC officials attributed the deaths to a suspected disease outbreak, possibly diphtheria, and sent the bodies to a Minna hospital for medical examination.
• Survivor Dauda Shehu said 65 detainees were packed into a poorly ventilated cell, while an intelligence report cited overcrowding and suffocation as the likely cause.
• Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago declared three days of mourning, postponed the start of election campaigning, and said an NSCDC commander had been detained.