Breaking: NSCDC Custodial Deaths: Panel Uncovers Overcrowding, Heat Stress and Dehydration as Key Causes

An independent investigative panel has attributed the deaths of 33 persons in the custody of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Minna, Niger State, to severe overcrowding, extreme heat, dehydration and poor detention conditions.

The findings were contained in the executive summary of a report presented by the committee’s chairman, Jonathan Kure, to the Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, in Abuja on Tuesday.

Kure said the committee identified several contributing factors, including “overcrowding, unsuitable detention condition, failure of duty of care, inadequate supervision”.

The panel concluded that the incident was an avoidable custodial tragedy, citing unlawful detention conditions, failure to provide adequate care, disregard for repeated distress warnings, poor supervision and wider institutional shortcomings.

It further stated that medical and forensic evidence did not support allegations that a disease outbreak was responsible for the deaths. Rather, the evidence pointed to environmental asphyxia, an acute respiratory failure associated with prolonged confinement in a severely overcrowded and poorly ventilated cell, compounded by heat stress and dehydration.

The report also raised concerns about the legality of the operation that resulted in the suspects’ arrest, revealing that it was carried out without an “operational order” or approval from the NSCDC national headquarters.

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