Some civil society organisations have called for the arrest and prosecution of the owner of the mining site where 37 suspected illegal miners were arrested before they died in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Niger State.
The groups said the investigation into the deaths should go beyond the circumstances surrounding the victims’ detention and establish the identity of those who owned and operated the mining site where they were arrested.
The demand followed an allegation by one of the survivors that former military Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd.), owned the mining site.
According to media reports, one of the survivors, Malam Babawo Tudun Nasera, alleged that the gold-mining site where the men worked belonged to the former military ruler.
The survivor reportedly said the NSCDC had earlier directed miners at the site to stop working, but they continued because the person he identified as the owner instructed them to carry on.
When asked who owned the site, Nasera reportedly identified Babangida.
However, the former military ruler denied the allegation.
Babangida’s aide, Dr Danladi Abdulhameed, in a statement, described the report linking the former military ruler to the mining operation as “false, baseless and completely without foundation.”
Abdulhameed maintained that Babangida had no connection with the mining site.
CSOs demand investigation into mining operators
However, two CSOs called for those responsible for the illegal mining operation to be included in the ongoing investigation.
Speaking with media reports on Saturday, the Executive Director of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, said the investigation should identify those behind the illegal mining operation.
He said, “It is not only the owner of the mining site that should be arrested and prosecuted; those who were supposed to monitor the operations but did not do so should also be fished out and prosecuted.
“Those who are engaging in illegal mining must be stopped at all costs because they are milking Nigeria dry. The government should treat illegal miners the same way it treats oil thieves, so that at the end of the day, Nigeria will be better for it. Anybody who engages in illegal mining is an economic saboteur and should be treated as such.”
Also speaking, the Team Lead of civic tech organisation, Urban Alert, Anthony Adejuwon, said investigators should first establish the identities of those responsible for activities at the illegal mining site.
He added that where the area had been licensed to a company, the firm should be held accountable for any violation under the Mining Act and relevant regulations.
Adejuwon stressed the importance of miners obtaining the appropriate licences for their operations, noting that an exploration licence could not be used for activities requiring a mining lease.
He called for stronger enforcement of mining laws across the country to uphold the law and ensure that mining operations complied with established regulations.
Authorities unable to identify mine owner
When contacted by media reports to confirm the owner of the site, the state Commissioner for Information, Obed Nana, did not respond to calls and messages.
The spokesman for the NSCDC, Rabiu Muti, said the corps was unaware of the actual owner of the land.
However, a security source said several prominent Niger State indigenes owned pieces of land where gold and other precious stones were mined across the state.
He linked the continued operation of illegal miners to the persistence of insecurity in the country, saying the exploitation of mineral resources in unregulated areas was contributing to criminal activities.
The source said this was one of the factors behind the difficulty in eradicating banditry.
“The illegal mining of gold in Minna is the pastime of many rich and powerful men in Minna and other local government areas in Niger State. They will not accept ownership of the illegal mining sites, but the Federal Government should come in and address this matter, especially if they want to end banditry in the North,” the source added.
Meanwhile, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has urged four United Nations Special Rapporteurs to urgently intervene in the incident.
In an appeal dated September 18 and signed by SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said, “The UN should demand answers from the Nigerian authorities and ensure that the truth about the deaths of the 37 persons in NSCDC custody and the reported use of lethal force against protesters in Minna is established.
“Every death or serious injury in police custody ought to be promptly, thoroughly, independently, impartially, transparently, and effectively investigated, and perpetrators identified and brought to justice. Any loss of life that results from the excessive use of force without strict compliance with the international human rights standards, including necessity and proportionality, is an arbitrary deprivation of life and therefore illegal.”
