The Commander of the Mining Marshals, Assistant Commandant of Corps John Onoja Attah, has denied claims that operatives of the specialised Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps unit participated in the September 16 operation at M.I. Wushishi Housing Estate in Minna, Niger State, where deaths in custody are under investigation.
Onoja Attah described as false and misleading a claim attributed to the suspended Niger State NSCDC Commandant, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, in a Daily Post publication of October 16, 2026.
Aniviye was quoted as saying he visited the mining site on September 15 before deploying Mining Marshals personnel to the area.
But Onoja Attah, in a statement issued by his office at the NSCDC National Headquarters in Abuja, said the suspended commandant lacked the authority to deploy the unit’s operatives.
“No Mining Marshals operative is attached to the Niger State Command or to any State Command of the Corps for that matter,” he said.
He explained that the unit operates from the NSCDC National Headquarters under the direct command and control of the Commandant-General, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development.
Onoja Attah added that he was unaware of the operation until reports of the incident emerged publicly.
“Our operational records confirm that at no time were Mining Marshals personnel deployed or involved in the said operation,” he said.
He noted that the Commandant-General had also stated publicly that the Mining Marshals were not involved in the incident, which is being investigated by the Justice Mohammed Mohammed Commission of Inquiry.
The deaths have drawn public scrutiny over the circumstances of the operation and the conduct of security personnel involved. The ongoing inquiry is expected to establish the personnel who participated and determine responsibility.
Mining Marshals defend operational record
Onoja Attah also defended the unit’s conduct, saying its enforcement activities under the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007, were professional and guided by the law.
He claimed 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 standards to procedures established under NSCDC Commandant-General Ahmed Abubakar Audi and the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake.
The commander said the Mining Marshals remained committed to tackling illegal mining and would not allow what he described as inaccurate reports to distract it from its statutory responsibilities.
He urged media organisations to verify information about the unit’s activities directly with its national headquarters.
The commission’s investigation will determine the circumstances surrounding the September 16 operation and the personnel involved, while the Mining Marshals maintains that its operatives had no part in it.
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