The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has arrested 24 personnel, including Suberu Aniviye, the suspended Niger state commandant, over the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in the corps’ custody.
Babawale Afolabi, national public relations officer (PRO) of
the NSCDC, said in a statement on Sunday that Ahmed Audi, commandant-general of
the corps, had assured that due process, transparency and accountability would
be strictly followed in the investigation of the 24 personnel currently in
custody.
Afolabi added that every personnel found culpable would face
the full weight of internal disciplinary measures and the law.
He said the number of personnel under investigation had
increased from the initial 21 after three additional officers were identified
and suspended.
“In a swift and decisive joint operation conducted in
conjunction with the commandant general’s special investigation squad (SIS),
all officers and men of the Niger state command linked to the gross misconduct
have since on the 17th September 2026 been taken into protective custody at the
national headquarters, Abuja,” Afolabi said.
“They are undergoing rigorous interrogation and
administrative disciplinary action, so as to make them available for the
presidential independent investigation committee and other investigation panels
for further investigation and possible prosecution.”
The corps’ spokesperson said the commandant-general had also
ordered that the NSCDC flag be flown at half-mast across all formations for
three days, starting from September 20, to mourn the 37 victims.
He said the gesture was “to signal our collective mourning
and our unwavering resolve to purge the system of bad eggs.”
One of the surviving detainees among the suspected illegal
miners arrested by the NSCDC in Niger state had alleged that 65 people were
crammed into one cell before operatives sprayed a substance inside and locked
the door.
The survivor spoke on Friday when Umar Bago, governor of
Niger state, and Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of interior, met with survivors
of the incident.
The federal government had also deployed a “high-powered”
team to Niger state to investigate the deaths of the 37 suspected illegal
miners.
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