When I was at the @NhrcNigeria there was the incident in which security forces killed over a dozen young men at night in a building in Apo, Abuja & branded them terrorists. It turned out they lied against the dead. It took work by the Commission to grant the young men posthumous exoneration & their families, closure & compensation. When you find 37 young people dead suddenly in a detention facility, the 1st thing is not to pronounce them a bunch of illegals. It takes complicity, cover-up or criminality to do that. I now understand all the dead in this matter have already & hurriedly been buried. There has been no inquiry. The Governor has already convicted them. They are not in a position to defend themselves. The families of these dead victims, say that when @official_NSCDC arrested them, each family were told to go and bring 500k each to bail their child. Earlier today, @official_NSCDC personnel in Minna reportedly turned their guns on protesters approaching the NSCDC command HQ in Minna, the Niger State capital. It is callous for the Governor of Niger State to announce without inquiry or investigation, that these victims are "illegal miners". Indeed, under the Coroner's Act, when a death happens in a detention centre, a coroner's inquiry is mandatory & the dead cannot be buried without a court order. When 37 are found dead in detention, the obligation of investigation & inquiry is unavoidable. But that is what @HonBago wants to avoid. Let's be clear: what this Niger State Governor has done is unlawful. In all likelihood it is also criminal.