37 suspected illegal miners die in custody in central Nigeria

The governor of a central Nigerian state said 37 people suspected of being illegal miners died early Thursday while in the custody of the west African country's civil defence corps. Police earlier said they have launched an investigation into the deaths in Niger state, which the civil defence blamed on disease but an intelligence report suggested was due to overcrowding and poor ventilation instead. 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. "This morning we woke up to the news that about 37 persons died in the custody of the civil defence here in Minna," Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago told reporters at a news conference in the state capital broadcast by Nigeria's TVC News television. "It's so sad, it's so tragic," he said, adding that a committee of inquiry into the deaths had been set up and had already started work. The governor declared three days of mourning and postponed the start of campaigning for elections due in January. The mass deaths reportedly triggered protests by "groups of miners and sympathisers" in Minna, where cars and other belongin...