The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on Sunday, September 20, arrested suspended Niger state commandant Suberu Aniviye and 23 other personnel over the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in the corps’ custody.
Babawale Afolabi, National Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the NSCDC, who disclosed this in a statement said 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 personnel in custody.
Afolabi said every personnel found culpable would face the full weight of internal disciplinary measures and the law.
He added that 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 the 17th September, 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 NSCDC spokesperson said the commandant-general had also ordered that the corps’ flag be flown at half-mast across all formations for three days, beginning 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.
Meanwhile, one of the surviving detainees among the suspected illegal miners arrested by the NSCDC in Niger state claimed that 65 people were crammed into one cell before operatives sprayed a substance inside and locked the door.
The survivor made the allegation on Friday when Niger state governor Umar Bago and interior minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo 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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