Miners’ Deaths: Adeyanju Questions NSCDC Detention Powers

Lawyer Deji Adeyanju has questioned the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps’ (NSCDC) authority and capacity to detain suspects, following the deaths of miners who were reportedly held in the Corps’ custody in Niger State.

Adeyanju, speaking on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Monday, said that while the NSCDC has powers of arrest, questions should be asked about whether its officers are adequately trained and professionally equipped to operate detention facilities.

“They have the power to arrest, but should they be the ones? Do they have the professional discipline? What are the internal mechanisms put in place to ensure that they can actually have holding facilities?” Adeyanju asked.

He also questioned the duration for which the NSCDC can lawfully hold suspects, stressing that detention should not be allowed to continue indefinitely or without appropriate supervision.

Adeyanju cautioned against calling the deceased ‘illegal miners’ before an independent fact-finding process is completed.

“We cannot call them illegal miners because there has been no fact-finding to that effect yet,” he said.

According to him, attention should instead be focused on identifying the owners of the mining sites, particularly given the Federal Government’s mapping and certification of mining locations across the country.

“What we should be looking at is: who is the owner of the mine?” he said.

Adeyanju, who is serving on a committee investigating the incident, said his primary responsibility is to represent the interests of the deceased and ensure that the circumstances surrounding their deaths are fully established.

“I feel that I am on that committee to serve the interests of those who have been murdered brutally and gruesomely murdered,” he said.

He vowed to oppose any attempt to conceal wrongdoing or suppress the findings of the investigation.

“I will make sure there is no cover-up or that nobody tries to suppress any wrongdoing; if they try to do so, I will expose them,” Adeyanju said.

Meanwhile, NSCDC paraded its suspended Niger State Commandant, Commandant Suberu Aniviye, alongside 24 officers linked to the deaths of miners held in the Corps’ custody.

The officers were paraded at the NSCDC National Headquarters in Sauka, Abuja, as the Corps’ National Public Relations Officer, Assistant Commandant Babawale Afolabi, briefed journalists on the preliminary findings into the incident.