Miners Return to Niger Site After NSCDC Raid and Custody Deaths

Illegal miners, including teenagers, have returned to a site in Niger state, Nigeria, just days after a raid by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) that resulted in 37 deaths in custody. The miners state they have no alternative livelihood and have resumed work at the M.I. Wushishi mining site in Minna, the state capital. The NSCDC arrested suspected illegal miners during operations conducted on September 15 and 16 around the Lt Gen Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi Estate. Suberu Aniviye, the suspended NSCDC commandant in Niger state, reported that scores of the detained suspects were found dead in the early hours of Thursday, September 18, following a suspected outbreak of disease. Despite the raid and the reported deaths, many miners have returned to the pits. A visit to the site on Saturday, September 20, found no security personnel present. Miners were observed working with shovels and picks, digging into the earth and using a stream to separate excavated material. The miners described mining as their only source of income.