Teenagers Among Dozens Dead in Overcrowded Nigerian Detention Cell

At least 37 detainees, including teenagers, died after dozens of suspected illegal miners were held in an overcrowded cell at a Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps facility in Minna, Niger state. Survivors described extreme heat, humidity, poor ventilation and guards allegedly ignoring pleas for water and help; one survivor also said officers sprayed an unidentified substance into the cell before detainees began collapsing and behaving erratically. Authorities initially attributed the deaths to diphtheria, but the cause remains under investigation, and the reported accounts have not been independently verified. The deaths have triggered public outrage, protests and renewed scrutiny of detention conditions and the treatment of suspects by Nigerian security agencies.