37 Miners’ Death: NSCDC Officials Unprofessional – Niger Commissioner

The head of operations, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Niger State Command, Deputy Commander of Corps John Abraham has narrated how they carried out the operation which led to the arrest of the 69 miners.

He told Justice Mohammed Mohammed-led nine member commission of inquiry that they carried out the operation based on the directives of the suspended Niger State commandant of the corps, Siaka Subairu Aniviye.

He maintained that after the arrest they handed over the suspects to the department of intelligence and investigation for further action.

He said they merely carried out the order of the state commandant .

Also testifying, the Commissioner for Homeland Security in Niger State Mr. Maurice Justin Magaji alleged that the operatives of the NSCDC went beyond their official responsibility within their rules of engagement.

He told the commission that their mode of official conduct was uncivil and that they should have been more professional in the discharge of their duty.

According to the commissioner, men of the NSCDC need more orientation in their mode of operation as a security outfit, stating that revelations from survivors were so embarrassing.

“ My lord, the information we received from the survivors in our committee as regards to the manner and way the NSCDC carried out their operations could best be described as unprofessional and they need to be called to order,” he said.

He told the commission that the excesses of the NSCDC in their operational conduct did not portray operatives of the NSCDC as a security outfit because they did not operate within the law that established the corps.

He confirmed that on the 17th of September 2026, he received a phone call from the suspended commandant of the NSCDC in Niger State, Siayaka Zubeiru Aniriviye on the death of the 37 suspected illegal miners in the custody of the command.

He stated that upon the receipt of the report,

“I put a call to my boss, the governor, on the report I got from the suspended commandant.

“The governor then directed that their bodies should be evacuated to the hospital,the suspended Commandant then told me that he needed some logistics to transport them to the hospital.

“ I then contacted my permanent secretary and raised some funds for transporting them to the hospital,” the commissioner told the commission.