An official probe into tragic fatalities at the Niger State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) revealed that detainees faced extreme thirst, drinking urine and sweat before 33 individuals lost their lives inside a command cell.
The findings belong to a 10-member Independent Investigation Committee established by the Federal Ministry of Interior. The panel, led by Jonathan Kure, confirmed that 33 male detainees—including 14 minors, died between the evening of September 16 and the morning of September 17. A total of 41 detainees survived the incident.
According to the panel’s documentation, approximately 50 people were locked inside an ill-ventilated, 12-square-meter room featuring a heavy metal door. The space contained no working plumbing or accessible drinking water.
“The Committee finds that officers responsible for the cells failed to reduce the overcrowding, ignored prolonged cries and banging of the cell door and wall and did not provide emergency help,” the report stated.
Investigators noted that female detainees also lacked drinking water unless supplied by visiting family members. On September 16, guards reportedly turned away relatives attempting to deliver food.
The inquiry revealed that internal warnings regarding overcrowding were raised hours before the deaths occurred.
Mariam Nelson, a medical officer attached to the command, informed the panel that she warned cell guards Usman Ndamaka and Hassan Mohammed on the evening of September 16. Nelson cautioned that severe overcrowding created a high risk of suffocation and recommended keeping the solid metal door unlocked to allow airflow. Her recommendation was disregarded.
By 7:15 p.m. on September 16, detainees exhibited severe distress, including throat irritation, breathing difficulties, profuse sweating, and intense dehydration. Occupants began calling out for water and pounding on the enclosure.
An armoury guard, Ahmed Abubakar Wushishi, stated he overheard distress calls and banging from the holding area between 1:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. on September 17. Wushishi urged night guard Hassan Mohammed to open the door, but Mohammed declined, referencing directive orders from superior officer Ndamaka that prohibited opening the cell without armed personnel present.
The noises from inside the cell stopped at approximately 2:30 a.m.
Ndamaka acknowledged issuing orders against unlocking the cell without an armed escort. He further admitted to missing a 10:37 p.m. distress call from Mohammed due to being asleep. Ndamaka returned the call at 6:00 a.m. and arrived at the facility around 7:00 a.m., at which point officers opened the cell and discovered the casualties.
The findings highlighted severe breaches of juvenile protection protocol. In addition to the 14 minors among the deceased, intake records showed that profiling officer Abubakar Dabban logged four children under age 14 before routing them directly into adult holding facilities.
Medical experts on the panel attributed the deaths to environmental asphyxia (acute hypoxic respiratory failure), intensified by extreme temperature stress and dehydration.
The medical determination was drawn from autopsies performed on three recovered bodies, as the remaining 30 deceased individuals had been interred prior to the arrival of the forensic medical team.
