The Commander of the Mining Marshals, Assistant Commandant of Corps, ACC John Onoja Attah, has denied claims that operatives of the specialised unit participated in the September 16 operation at M.I. Wushishi Housing Estate in Minna, Niger State, where deaths in custody are now under investigation.
Mr Attah also challenged the authority of the suspended Niger State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, to deploy Mining Marshals personnel, insisting that the unit does not operate under state commands.
In a statement issued by his office at the NSCDC National Headquarters in Abuja, Attah described as false and misleading a claim attributed to Aniviye in a Daily Post report published on October 16, 2026.
The suspended commandant was quoted as saying that he visited a mining site on September 15 before deploying Mining Marshals operatives to the area.
However, Attah said no personnel of the specialised unit took part in the operation, which is being investigated by the Justice Mohammed Mohammed Commission of Inquiry.
He said the claim misrepresented the unit’s command structure and operational jurisdiction, stressing that Mining Marshals personnel were not attached to the Niger State Command or any other state command of the NSCDC.
“No Mining Marshals operative is attached to the Niger State Command or to any State Command of the Corps for that matter,” he said.
According to him, the Mining Marshals operate exclusively from the NSCDC National Headquarters under the direct command, control and operational directives of the Commandant-General, in collaboration with the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development.
Attah maintained that state commandants lacked the authority to deploy Mining Marshals personnel for operations, adding that the unit’s operational records showed that none of its personnel was involved in the September 16 incident.
He said the Commandant-General of the NSCDC had also stated publicly on several occasions that the Mining Marshals were not involved in the operation.
The commander added that he was unaware of the operation until reports of the incident emerged publicly, describing the claim of the unit’s involvement as inconsistent with its established chain of command.
“Our operational records confirm that at no time were Mining Marshals personnel deployed or involved in the said operation,” he said.
Attah urged the public and media organisations to distinguish between the Mining Marshals and the personnel who carried out the operation under investigation, warning against associating the specialised unit with the deaths without verifiable evidence.
The controversy comes amid heightened scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding the deaths in Niger State and the conduct of security personnel involved in the operation.
The Justice Mohammed Mohammed Commission of Inquiry is investigating the incident, with questions surrounding the authorisation of the operation, the personnel involved and the circumstances that led to the deaths.
Attah said the Mining Marshals remained committed to enforcing the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007, describing the unit’s operations as professional, civil and guided by the law.
He said the unit had maintained strict adherence to its rules of engagement since its establishment, claiming that it had no record of human rights violations in its operations across the country.
He also said there was no pending Fundamental Human Rights Enforcement suit against the unit in any Nigerian court.
The commander attributed the unit’s operational procedures to the leadership of NSCDC Commandant-General Ahmed Abubakar Audi and the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake.
According to him, the procedures were designed to ensure discipline, professionalism and compliance with the law during enforcement operations in the solid minerals sector.
He said the Mining Marshals would not allow what he described as erroneous publications to distract it from its statutory responsibility of tackling illegal mining and sanitising the sector.
Attah also called on media organisations to verify information about the unit’s operations directly from its National Headquarters, particularly when reporting allegations involving security agencies and deaths in custody.
The clarification places renewed focus on the ongoing inquiry into the September 16 operation, particularly the question of who authorised the deployment and which security personnel participated.
While the Mining Marshals has disowned the operation, the commission’s investigation is expected to establish the facts surrounding the incident and determine responsibility based on the available evidence.
The unit’s denial, however, does not by itself determine the responsibility of other personnel or resolve the questions surrounding the deaths. Those issues remain subject to the findings of the commission of inquiry.