Mining marshals deny involvement in Niger deaths

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Mining Marshals have denied involvement in the September 16 operation at M.I. Wushishi Housing Estate in Minna, Niger State, where deaths occurred, insisting that the suspended state commandant lacked the authority to deploy its operatives.

Commander of the Mining Marshals, Assistant Commandant of Corps John Onoja Attah, disclosed this in a statement issued on Saturday.

Attah described as false and misleading the claims attributed to the suspended Niger State Commandant of the NSCDC, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, that he deployed Mining Marshals personnel to the area.

The controversy comes amid an ongoing investigation by the Justice Mohammed Mohammed Commission of Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the incident and the conduct of security personnel involved.

However, Attah insisted that Aniviye’s account misrepresented the command structure and operational jurisdiction of the Mining Marshals.

The suspended commandant alleged that he visited the mining site on September 15 before deploying Mining Marshals operatives to the area.

Attah maintained that no personnel of the specialised unit were attached to state commands, adding that its operations were directed from the national headquarters.

“No Mining Marshals operative is attached to the Niger State Command or to any State Command of the Corps for that matter,” he stated, stressing that the unit operates exclusively from the national headquarters under the direct command, control, and operational directives of the Commandant-General, in collaboration with the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development.

He added that a state commandant had no authority to deploy Mining Marshals for any operation.

Attah noted that the Commandant-General had stated in several public fora that the Mining Marshals were not involved in the operation.

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As the commander of Mining Marshals operations, he was unaware of the operation until news of the unfortunate incident became public, making the acclaimed involvement of the unit not merely inaccurate but inconsistent with its established chain of command, he added.

Attah said the unit’s records showed that none of its personnel participated in the operation.

“Our operational records confirm that at no time were Mining Marshals personnel deployed or involved in the said operation,” Onoja Attah said, warning against attempts to associate the unit with the custodial deaths currently being investigated.

The commander also defended the conduct of the Mining Marshals, saying its enforcement activities under the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007, had been professional and guided by the law.

According to him, the unit had maintained strict adherence to its rules of engagement since its establishment, with no record of human rights violations in its operations across the country and no pending fundamental human rights enforcement suit against it in any Nigerian court.

He attributed the unit’s operational discipline to the standard operating procedures instituted under the leadership of the NSCDC Commandant-General, Prof. Ahmed Abubakar Audi, and the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake.

Attah said the Mining Marshals remained committed to sanitising Nigeria’s solid minerals sector and would not allow what he described as erroneous publications to distract them from their statutory responsibilities.

He urged media organisations to verify information about the unit’s operations directly from its national headquarters, stressing the need for responsible reporting on security agencies and allegations involving deaths in custody.

The commission of inquiry is expected to establish the circumstances surrounding the September 16 operation, identify the personnel involved, and determine responsibility based on the evidence presented before it.