*John Attah.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Mining Marshals have firmly rejected claims linking them to a September 16, 2026, operation at the M.I. Wushishi Housing Estate in Minna, Niger State, in which many suspected illegal miners died.
Assistant Commandant of Corps John Attah, Commander of the Mining Marshals, described as false and misleading statements attributed to the suspended Niger State Commandant, Suberu Aniviye, that he had deployed operatives of the specialised unit to the site.
Attah issued the clarification in a statement on Saturday.
According to Attah, Aniviye had reportedly claimed he visited the mining location on September 15 and thereafter ordered Mining Marshals personnel to the area. The commander insisted this account misrepresented both the unit’s command structure and its operational jurisdiction.
“No Mining Marshals operative was attached to the Niger State Command or any other state command of the Corps,” Attah stated. He explained that the specialised unit operates exclusively from the national headquarters under the direct command and control of the NSCDC Commandant General, in collaboration with the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development.
State commandants, he stressed, lack the authority to deploy Mining Marshals for any operation. Attah said he only became aware of the reported incident after it became public knowledge and that the alleged involvement of the unit was inconsistent with its established chain of command and operational procedures.
He also noted that the Commandant General had repeatedly stated publicly that the Mining Marshals were not involved.
The denial comes amid an ongoing investigation by the Justice Mohammed Mohammed Commission of Inquiry, which is examining the circumstances surrounding the operation and the conduct of the security personnel involved.
The panel is expected to establish the facts of the incident, clarify the chain of command, and determine whether any security personnel violated established operational procedures.
The Mining Marshals’ statement underscores the specialised unit’s national rather than state-level operational framework as the inquiry continues.
