Nigeria: Armed security deployed in Minna after deaths of miners

Armed security personnel have been deployed in the Nigerian city of Minna, where demonstrators have been taking to the streets, a day after dozens suspected illegal gold miners died while in the custody of a paramilitary civil defence group.

Survivors have recounted their panic as they struggled to breathe in their cell. One, who wished to remain anonymous, said, "we were screaming for help," he said, telling guards that "people are dying one after the other, they did not believe us".

Another recounted, "several times, we raised alarm that some people are already dying because of suffocation, nobody answered us."

The incident prompted rioting in Minna, where the deaths occurred, and police opened fire in a bid to disperse the crowds.

The scramble for gold reserves dug up in illegal mines in the area is contributing to violence by criminal gangs, according to officials and experts.