The Commander of the Mining Marshals, Assistant Commandant of Corps (ACC) John Onoja Attah, has firmly denied that personnel of the specialised Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) unit participated within the September 16, 2026, operation at M.I. Wushishi Housing Estate in Minna, Niger State, the place deaths are below investigation.
Attah’s denial contradicts a declare attributed to the suspended Niger State NSCDC Commandant, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, that Mining Marshals personnel have been deployed to the world following his go to to a mining website on September 15.
The conflicting accounts have raised questions concerning the identification of the safety personnel concerned within the operation, who authorised their deployment and the circumstances that led to the deaths.
In a press release issued by his workplace on the NSCDC National Headquarters in Abuja, Attah rejected the reported declare that the Mining Marshals have been deployed to the situation, insisting that personnel of the unit weren’t hooked up to the Niger State Command or every other state command of the Corps.
“No Mining Marshals operative is attached to the Niger State Command or to any State Command of the Corps for that matter,” he acknowledged.
Attah defined that the Mining Marshals function from the NSCDC National Headquarters below the command and operational directives of the Commandant-General, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development.
He maintained that the operational construction of the unit didn’t help the declare {that a} state commandant had deployed its personnel to the world.
The denial adopted an October 16, 2026, report by Daily Post, which quoted Aniviye as saying that he visited a mining website on September 15 and subsequently deployed Mining Marshals personnel to the world.
Rejecting that account, Attah stated the Commandant-General of the NSCDC had beforehand acknowledged publicly that the Mining Marshals weren’t concerned within the incident.
He disclosed that he solely grew to become conscious of the operation after stories of the deaths emerged.
“Our operational records confirm that at no time were Mining Marshals personnel deployed or involved in the said operation,” he stated.
However, Attah didn’t present copies of the operational data cited in help of the denial within the assertion.
The conflicting accounts depart key questions unresolved, together with which safety personnel carried out the operation, the authority below which they acted and the chain of command liable for their deployment.
These points are amongst these being examined by the Commission of Inquiry chaired by Justice Mohammed Mohammed, which is investigating the incident.
While the account attributed to Aniviye recognized Mining Marshals personnel because the operatives deployed to the world, Attah has categorically rejected that declare. Establishing what occurred would require proof able to confirming the identities of the personnel concerned and the orders below which they operated.
Attah urged the media to confirm stories regarding Mining Marshals deployments via the unit’s National Headquarters, stressing the necessity to set up information earlier than attributing an operation to the specialised safety formation.
The commander additionally defended the unit’s wider actions within the stable minerals sector, stating that its operations have been guided by the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007, and established guidelines of engagement.
He claimed that the unit had maintained skilled requirements since its institution and had not recorded human rights violations throughout its operations. He additionally claimed that no basic rights enforcement swimsuit was pending in opposition to the unit in any Nigerian court docket.
Attah attributed the unit’s operational procedures to the management of NSCDC Commandant-General, Prof. Ahmed Abubakar Audi, and the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake.
He stated the Mining Marshals would proceed to implement legal guidelines governing the stable minerals sector and help efforts to fight unlawful mining.
However, the unit’s basic tasks don’t settle the dispute over its alleged involvement within the September 16 operation in Minna.
The Commission of Inquiry is anticipated to ascertain the identities of the personnel concerned, decide who authorised the operation and look at the circumstances surrounding the deaths.
Relevant proof could embody deployment orders, operational logs, personnel data and testimony from officers and witnesses.
For now, the Mining Marshals have disowned the operation, straight disputing the account attributed to the suspended Niger State NSCDC commandant. The inquiry should set up which account is supported by the obtainable proof and decide duty for the incident.
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