- The Commander of the Mining Marshals said no personnel from the unit took part in the September 16 operation at M.I. Wushishi Housing Estate in Minna
- ACC John Onoja Attah said suspended Niger State Commandant Suberu Siyaka Aniviye had no authority to deploy Mining Marshals operatives
- The denial came as the Justice Mohammed Mohammed Commission of Inquiry continued investigating the deaths linked to the operation
Abuja, FCT - The commander of Nigeria's Mining Marshals, Assistant Commandant of Corps (ACC) John Onoja Attah, has rejected claims that his unit took part in the September 16 operation at M.I. Wushishi Housing Estate in Minna, Niger state, saying the suspended state commandant had no power to deploy its personnel.
Onoja Attah issued the denial from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) National Headquarters in Abuja, describing statements attributed to suspended Niger State Commandant Suberu Siyaka Aniviye as false and misleading. Aniviye had reportedly claimed he visited a mining site on September 15 before deploying Mining Marshals to the area ahead of the operation now under investigation by the Justice Mohammed Mohammed Commission of Inquiry.
Source: UGC
Mining Marshals Answer Only to National Headquarters
The ACC said the suspended commandant's account misrepresented how the unit operates.
"No Mining Marshals operative is attached to the Niger State Command or to any State Command of the Corps for that matter," Onoja Attah said in a statement sent to Legit.ng, explaining that the unit takes orders exclusively from the Commandant-General at the National Headquarters, in collaboration with the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development.
He said the commandant-general had already told the public on several occasions that Mining Marshals were not part of the operation, and that he himself only learned about the incident when news broke publicly.
"Our operational records confirm that at no time were Mining Marshals personnel deployed or involved in the said operation," he added.
Onoja Attah warned against attempts to link the unit to custodial deaths currently being probed, stressing that accountability must rest on verified facts rather than unsubstantiated claims.
Unit Claims Clean Human Rights Record
The commander went on to defend the Mining Marshals' overall conduct, saying the unit has enforced the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007, professionally and within the law since its establishment, with no record of human rights violations and no pending fundamental human rights suits against it in any Nigerian court.
He credited the unit's discipline to standard operating procedures put in place under NSCDC Commandant-General Prof. Ahmed Abubakar Audi and the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake.
Onoja Attah urged journalists and media organisations to contact the Mining Marshals' National Headquarters directly before publishing claims about the unit's operations, calling for responsible reporting on matters involving security agencies.
The denial shifts the question of who authorised and carried out the September 16 operation firmly to the ongoing commission of inquiry. The Justice Mohammed Mohammed Commission continues its work to establish the facts and identify the personnel responsible for the deaths recorded that day.
Niger Miners Deaths: FG Suspends 20 Top Officers
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo constituted a ten-member independent committee to investigate how 37 people died while in the custody of the NSCDC in Niger state, following their arrest on suspicion of illegal mining.
The minister announced the move on Saturday, September 19, acting on a directive from President Bola Tinubu for a full, transparent and unobstructed inquiry into the incident.
Tunji-Ojo also suspended 20 officers connected to the case, including the Niger state commandant of the NSCDC, pending the completion of the investigation.
Source: Legit.ng