They sprayed us something in the cell — Survivor of Niger miners’ deaths recounts

Survivors of the incident that killed 37 suspected illegal gold miners in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, have narrated their ordeals inside the cell where they were kept.

One of the survivors, while recounting his experience, said 17 people were initially locked inside a small room before additional detainees were brought in.

According to him, the detainees complained about the size of the room and the intense heat but were still kept inside.

“They locked us in a very small room. We were 17 in number, then they added more people, and we started complaining that the room was small,” he said.

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The survivor added that the situation became worse after the detainees were asked to stand up as the room was about to be locked.

He equally alleged that an unidentified substance, which he described as looking like perfume, was sprayed inside the room.

“As they were about to lock the room, they sprayed something that looked like perfume, and the smell started disturbing everyone in the room,” he said.

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