Crime & Security
Niger Miners’ Deaths: NSCDC Mining Marshals Deny Involvement in Operation
The specialised NSCDC unit says its personnel were not deployed to the September operation in Minna, where 37 detainees died in custody, as a commission of inquiry investigates the incident.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Mining Marshals have denied participating in the September 16, 2026, operation at M.I. Wushishi Housing Estate in Minna, Niger State, where suspected illegal miners were arrested and later died in custody.
The unit’s commander, Assistant Commandant of Corps John Onoja Attah, made the clarification in a statement issued on Saturday, October 17, describing as false and misleading claims attributed to the suspended Niger State NSCDC Commandant, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, that he deployed Mining Marshals personnel to the location.
The denial comes amid an ongoing investigation by the Justice Mohammed Mohammed Commission of Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 37 detainees and the conduct of security personnel involved in the operation.
Aniviye had reportedly told the commission that he visited the mining site on September 15 before directing the deployment of personnel for the operation the following day.
However, Attah said the account misrepresented the command structure and operational jurisdiction of the Mining Marshals, insisting that state commandants were not authorised to deploy members of the specialised unit.
“No Mining Marshals operative is attached to the Niger State Command or to any State Command of the Corps for that matter,” Attah said.
He explained that the unit operates from the NSCDC National Headquarters under the command and operational directives of the Commandant-General, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development.
According to Attah, the Commandant-General had also stated publicly that the Mining Marshals were not involved in the operation.
The commander said he was unaware of the incident until reports of the deaths became public, adding that the unit’s operational records showed that none of its personnel had been deployed to the location.
“Our operational records confirm that at no time were Mining Marshals personnel deployed or involved in the said operation,” he said.
Attah cautioned against associating the unit with the deaths while investigations were ongoing, maintaining that any claims about its participation should be verified through the appropriate command structure.
He also defended the unit’s record, saying its enforcement activities under the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007, were guided by established procedures and the law.
According to him, the Mining Marshals had maintained operational standards intended to safeguard human rights while carrying out their statutory responsibilities.
He attributed the unit’s operational procedures to the leadership of NSCDC Commandant-General Ahmed Audi and the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake.
Attah said the unit remained committed to tackling illegal mining and would continue carrying out its responsibilities despite the controversy surrounding the Niger State incident.
He urged media organisations to verify information about the unit’s operations with its national headquarters and to exercise care when reporting allegations involving security personnel and deaths in custody.
The commission of inquiry is expected to examine the circumstances surrounding the September operation, the chain of command, the treatment of detainees and the responsibility of the personnel involved.
The Mining Marshals’ denial is one of the competing accounts being examined as authorities seek to establish how the detainees died and who was responsible.