Backlash over ‘inhuman’ jail tragedy

Poor jail conditions led to the deaths of more than 30 miners arrested on suspicion of illegal gold mining in central Nigeria last month, investigators said yesterday, describing their treatment as ‘cruel and inhuman’. The Citizen reports that 33 young men were found dead after they were thrown inside a crowded cell in Minna, the capital of central Niger state, in September after their arrest by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, a paramilitary government agency. Survivors recounted being crammed in the cell with poor ventilation and some said a substance that stung their throats and noses was sprayed into the cell before the door was slammed shut. ‘Detainees repeatedly banged on cell doors and walls, shouted for assistance and pleaded for water. These distress calls were heard by officers assigned to nearby duties… but were not acted upon,’ said the head of the investigating team, Jonathan Kure. The panel concluded that ‘these circumstances amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment’, he said.