Thirty-seven miners die in Nigerian paramilitary detention cell

Thirty-seven people died in a detention cell in Niger state, central Nigeria, this week. They were suspected illegal gold miners held by a paramilitary civil defence group. Survivors said the cell was extremely crowded and had very little fresh air. Detainees told guards that people were suffocating and dying, but the guards did not act. One survivor stayed alive because he stood near the entrance, where more air came in. When protesters gathered on Friday to demonstrate against the deaths, police fired teargas at them. Authorities then imposed an overnight curfew in Minna, the state capital. Nigerian authorities have opened an investigation into the incident. The detainees were not held by regular police, which has raised questions about who oversees these paramilitary detention facilities.