Coin Press - Nigeria miners struggled to breathe in cell before 37 died: survivors

Police fired shots to disperse protests as tensions spilled onto the streets of Minna, the capital of mineral-rich Niger state in central Nigeria.

It was not immediately clear whether police were firing anti-riot pellets or live ammunition in Minna, where mobs blocked a main street and attacked a transport depot, a bank, political party offices and private businesses.

Government has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew to curtail the unrest.

Nigeria's government suspended a civil defence commander as President Bola Tinubu ordered a "thorough", "urgent and "full and transparent investigation" over Thursday's deaths.

But anger erupted among sympathisers as testimony from survivors suggested the miners may have suffocated in packed cells.

"We were jam-packed in the cell, no ventilation for us to breathe well," Dauda Shehu told journalists at a city hospital.

"All of a sudden we realised that we could not breathe and we were all scampering for where to get fresh air, we even appealed to them several times, banged the cell door but they refused to answer us.

"Several times, we raised alarm that some people are already dying because of suffocation, nobody answered us."

Another survivor, who asked not to be named, said he made it out alive because he was near the cell entrance where he could breathe better.

"We were screaming for help," he said, telling guards that "people are dying one after the other, they did not believe us".

Another survivor told the state governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, at his residence that their cell was overcrowded and they were ordered to stand so they could fit.

"They locked the door and then sprayed a form of perfume and ... some began collapsing and we kept telling them we were thirsty, there was no water," he said speaking in Hausa.

He said their throats and eyes hurt. "Some of us kept sneezing and coughing."

A 40-second video shared online purporting to show the victims of Thursday's incident featured bodies of dozens of young men clad only in shorts.

Most of them appeared to be teenagers and the figures were sprawled on the ground out in the open.

Mallam Abdullahi lost a son, Salim, who he said was the family breadwinner. He explained that his son had left home three days earlier for mining and did not return.

"They should tell us what truly killed our children... We need justice," Abdullahi told reporters.

- 'Official negligence' -

"The fact that these individuals were suspected of illegal mining does not remove their right to life, dignity and humane treatment," said the president.

"We will not tolerate deaths arising from official negligence, abuse, dereliction of duty or the failure of public officials to protect lives placed under their care."

An intelligence report seen by AFP suggested the 37 died as a result of overcrowding and poor ventilation in the detention facility, though the civil defence initially blamed the deaths on disease.

Niger state, which is more than twice the size of Belgium, is rich in minerals and attracts thousands of artisanal miners -- most of them lured by the hope of striking gold.

The scramble for gold reserves dug up in illegal mines in Niger state is fuelling violence by criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, according to officials and experts.

The gangs tax the miners and demand a cut from the extracted ore as a levy to allow them access to the pits.

Niger state has in recent weeks seen a spate of kidnappings largely blamed on bandits and Lakurawa jihadists from the northwest who established presence in the central state.

Niger state's arable land and huge mineral deposits have in recent years attracted kidnapping-for-ransom gangs from the northwest and jihadists from the northeast who find sanctuary in the vast forests and game reserves dotting the state.

L.K.Baumgartner--CPN