Justice for Minna miners?

 With the report turned in last week by the independent probe of the recent artisanal miners’ death in security custody, those dead miners and survivors are close to getting justice. It will be to added praise of government if it carries through with implementing the report submitted, marking a departure from the practice whereby administrations institute probes to signpost attention to an issue, only to abandon the reports of such probes on shelves to gather dust. Question is whether all issues central to the tragedy were addressed by the panel and will receive due redress.

Government raised a 10-member independent probe panel in September, following the death of many suspected illegal miners in custody of the Niger State command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). The miners had been arrested in operations by NSDC personnel at Miwishishi and Lukoto areas of the state over two days – 15th and 16th September – and were cramped into a detention facility at the Corps’ offices in Minna. Tragedy struck on the day after when many of the miners were found dead in the detention, igniting fierce national outrage.

President Bola Tinubu ordered a comprehensive inquiry of the circumstances of the tragedy, including the condition of the suspects when they entered custody, the detention environment, the number of persons held at the facility, the medical attention provided the detainees and events leading up to the deaths.

In setting up the probe, Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo mandated the panel to, among other things, determine the cause of death, identify possible negligence or misconduct on the part of NSCDC officials and recommend appropriate sanctions, and as well recommend compensation for the victims.

The panel, on Tuesday, turned in its findings in which it adjudged the Minna incident “a preventable custodial tragedy caused by severe overcrowding, unlawful and unsuitable detention conditions, failure of duty of care, disregard of repeated distress warnings, inadequate supervision and wider systemic deficiencies.” Whereas initial reports put the death toll at 37, the panel said it ascertained 33 deaths and 41 survivors. It also established that 14 of the fatalities were minors.

On the heels of the tragedy on 17th September, NSCDC Niger State Corps Commandant Suberu Aniviye (now suspended) had issued a statement citing a suspected outbreak of disease as the cause of the deaths. Panel Chairman Jonathan Kure, a retired Deputy Director-General of the Department of State Services, however, said findings by his committee did not support that claim. “Available medical and forensic evidence indicated that the fatalities resulted from an environmental asphyxia, an acute respiratory failure caused by prolonged confinement in a severely overcrowded and poorly ventilated detention cell aggravated by heat stress and dehydration. The evidence did not support claims that the deaths resulted from a disease outbreak,” he stated.

By way of setting the context, the panel established that Niger command NSCDC operatives conducted raids on 15th and 16th September following complaints about mining activities at Miwishishi axis. The operation was, however, conducted without an approved operational order, proper planning or consultation with relevant mining authorities, and neither was the agency’s national headquarters informed before it got underway, it said. Following the raids, some 50 male detainees were confined in a cell measuring about 20 square metres, with adults and minors kept together.

“The detention conditions were found to be grossly inadequate and inconsistent with constitutional safeguards, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, the Child Rights Act and accepted international standards. The male cell was severely overcrowded and poorly ventilated. It had a solid metal door, inadequate airflow, no running water, poor lighting and no functioning toilet. Food and drinking water were either unavailable or grossly inadequate,” Kure stated. 

“Minna 33: It is doubtful justice will be thorough without addressing how artisanal mining…should be viewed in the eye of the law”

 The panel said witnesses testified that detainees repeatedly banged on the cell door and walls, shouted for assistance and pleaded for water as conditions deteriorated during the night. “Despite clear evidence that conditions inside the cell had become life-threatening, officers responsible for detainee welfare failed to open the cell, to decongest the facility or arrange emergency intervention,” the chairman added. The panel further found that the deaths occurred between 8p.m on 16th September and 7a.m. the following day when the cell was eventually opened. Kure said 30 bodies had been buried before the inquiry got started and post-mortem examinations were conducted on three bodies. The committee, according to him, found no evidence to support allegations that an aerosol substance was sprayed into the cell before the deaths – not that it was confirmed such didn’t happen, but because  “the detention area was cleaned, disinfected and altered before independent forensic investigators arrived, affecting aspects of the forensic assessment.”

According to its report, the panel found extensive failing of leadership, supervision and professional conduct on the part of Niger command officers. Among those called out is the state corps commandant, who it cited as having authorised and supervised the operation without proper planning, approval or oversight. Besides, he permitted cell overcrowding, failed to ensure lawful detention practices and later issued a public statement falsely attributing the deaths to a disease outbreak. The commandant’s actions, it submitted, amounted to gross leadership failing, abuse of authority and serious professional misconduct.

The panel recommended summary dismissal of the corps commandant and other officers directly involved in the miners’ detention and eventual death. It also advised their prosecution for offences including murder, criminal negligence, torture and inhuman treatment, where applicable; and as well investigation by anti-corruption agencies into allegations of extortion and mismanagement of exhibits. Concerning officers whose failings contributed to the incident but did not amount to primary culpability, the committee called for administrative sanctions.

The panel did not limit its attention to indicted officers, hence it recommended total overhaul of NSCDC leadership and operations, including by way of putting in place standard detention facilities, installing CCTV systems in custodial areas, upgrading emergency medical response, ensuring stronger oversight mechanisms and promoting human rights training. It also called for reforms in recruitment, appointment, promotion, discipline, deployment, intelligence gathering, supervision and reporting structures.

On compensation for victims, the committee recommended “a restitutive package” of N30million to each of the 33 bereaved families, and N10million to each of the 41 survivors, totalling to N1.4billion compensation package. “Additional measures include educational support for dependents of deceased victims, medical rehabilitation for survivors, psychological support for affected families, and a formal apology by the Federal Government,” Kure said.

Receiving the report, Tunji-Ojo said it would be forwarded to the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice for further judicial action. Government, through the Interior ministry would also review the administrative recommendations and work with the NSCDC to implement institutional reforms. “The best gift we can give to the deceased is justice. And justice must be done,” he stated. According to him, the Tinubu administration would not treat the incident as another case in which a panel was established merely to calm public anger. “It is the era of setting up committees just to douse tension. But not now,” he noted.

The minister directed NSCDC leadership to immediately suspend officers who cleaned up the detention facility, which the panel described as an attempt to destroy evidence, pending internal probe and further disciplinary action. “You cannot disrupt and destroy evidence in a case where we lost 30-something people. That is wickedness,” he said.

Government’s disposition in this case, as fronted by the Interior minister, indicates commitment to dealing justice. This is commendable, and government is encouraged to stay the course. One of the things institutional reform in NSCDC should address is how a 25-year-old who was earlier arrested over a debt issue (civil matter) got lumped together in inhumane detention with suspects of illegal mining (criminal matter) as the panel found. That is not mentioning the minors among the victims.

It is doubtful justice will be thorough, however, without addressing how artisanal mining that got those victims into trouble should be viewed in the eye of the law. This column argued before that natural resources come with health and ecological hazards for most host communities, and there must be some way to compensate them marginally for living with those hazards. In the Minna instance, the locals had neither the capacity nor equipment to drill gold fields that could be rightly appropriated as national wealth; rather, they were picking the crumbs that fell off big miners’ table. Should that be a crime?