A survivor of the tragic illegal mining incident in Niger State has alleged that some officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) sprayed an unknown substance inside a cell where miners were being held.
The survivor made the allegation during a visit by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, to some of the survivors who are currently in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).
The visit was captured in a video shared by @NigAffairs on X.
According to the survivor, the miners were put inside the cell before the substance was sprayed.
“They put us in a small room. There were 17 of us, and they put us there. Then they brought eight more people. We told them that the room was too small and that it was not enough for us, but they told us to stand up, so we stood up.
“They later took us to the cell. It was very hot there, and they locked us inside. They then started spraying something. After that, some people started falling down.
“Some of us were still conscious, but they said we should remain there. We told them that people were dying, but they did not listen.
“I did not know what the substance was, but after they sprayed it, people started falling down. That was what happened to us,” the survivor alleged.
He also alleged that the incident occurred after the miners had been arrested and taken into custody.
The minister visited the survivors as part of efforts to understand what happened during the tragic mining incident and hear directly from those who survived.
Niger mining tragedy: NSCDC officials sprayed unknown substance on miners – Survivor alleges