By Uthman Baba-Naseer,Minna

The National President of the Nigeria Union of Mining Workers (NUMW),Comrade Musa Adamu Nasiru has alleged the head of Mining Marshal of the Nigeria Security Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Niger State SC Jibrin Mohammed of extortion and diverting mined gold to his personal use.

The National President also alleged that the mined gold seized by the head of the Marshal will be sold and diverted the money realized from the sales of the seized gold to his personal pocket.

Comrade Adamu Nasiru who was testifying before the Justice Mohammed Mohammed Judicial Commission of Inquiry investigating the death of 37 suspected illegal miners in the custody of NSCDC in Minna,Tuesday stated that the operational activities of the mining Marshal undermined the core duty of the NSCDC.

He described his Union working relationship with the state Command of the NSCDC and the Mining Marshal in the state as cordial stating that “ but their operational activities particularly the Mining Marshal could best be described as undermining their duty”

According to the National President,as a linceced miner,whenever miners were arrested on mining site,he requested for their bail from the suspended state Commandant he will refused to grant them bail.

“ The suspended state Commandant response to my request for their bail, was that he has the order to detain them as long as he wish before arraigning them in Court for prosecution” he told the Commission.

Speaking further,Comrade Nasiru disclosed that he was told of the death of the Miners in the NSCDC custody by the Commissioner for Mineral resources Qasim Mohammed Danjuma and he delegated some of his members to the NSCDC for confirmation.

“ Out of the people that died in the custody ten of my members were in detention. Six died and four of them survived” he added.

In his testimonies, the Niger State Chairman of Miners Association of Nigeria,(MAN), Mall. Abdulrazak Yusuf Mohammed told the Commission that as the chairman of the association,he is in-charge of every individual miners,miners cooperative society, artisanal and licenced miners in the state.

He said his duty is to coordinate the activities of both licenced miners and artisanal miners in Niger State.

According to him,on the 15th to 17th September,2026 he was in his home town in Borgu, as a titled holder of Wazirin Borgu Kingdom,on a traditional engagement when he received the information of the incident from the Commissioner for Mineral resources Hon. Qasim Danjuma Mohammed.

“ On receiving the information, I put a call to my vice chairman. As an association, I delegated some of my members to ascertain the numbers of those in detention.

“ I was told that 65 people were in detention out of them only seventeen survived.forty eight of them died in the custody” he told the commission.

He further told the commission,that after ascertaining the figures of the recorded which was put at forty eight,majority of which were from Tunga area of Minna, he submitted a memo,to the Ministerial investigating Committee headed by Rtd director of Department of State Security (DSS),Mr. Jonathan Kure.

By David Owei,Bayelsa

A Bayelsà State High Court has sentenced two persons to death by hanging over their involvement in the 2022 an in-law to Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri, Odeinyefa Ogbolosingha, the Paramount Ruler Kolibo Francis Amabelimo, and the CDC Chairman of Kalaba community, Samuel Oburo in Kalaba community, Yenagoa Local Government Area of the State.

The two suspects, Gideon Atama, 32 years old and Clever OVO, 33 years old, arrested by the Police Investigation team attached to the Violent Crime Response Unit (formerly Operation Puff Adder) led by CSP Chris Nwaogbo, charged the suspects with conspiracy, kidnapping, murder and attempted murder in suit number BYHC/YHC/CR/32/2025.

One of the accused persons, Bethlehem Nwanlia, 50 years old on October 27th slumped and died inside the State High Court premises while awaiting ruling on the matter.

He died of health complications of high blood pressure and stroke which was reportedly developed while in custody at the Okaka Medium Correctional Centre.

The Presiding Judge, Justice Micheal Amadise Ekade, after listening to the thorough case presented against the accused, convicted and sentence the accused to death by hanging.

Some family members of the deceased victims expressed appreciation to the men of the Operation Puff Adder now Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU) led by CSP Chris Nwaogbo and the State Government through the State Ministry of Justice for quick arrest and diligent investigation and prosecution.

By John Thomas, Makurdi

In an effort to rid the country of banditry and kidnapping,troops of Sector 2, Joint Task Force,JTF, Operation Whirl Stroke,OPWS, in collaboration with operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, have arrested a suspected kidnapper and recovered ₦200,000 allegedly demanded as ransom from a victim.

Force Commander, Joint Task Force Operation Whirl Stroke,OPWS,and General Officer Commanding, 5 Division, Nigerian Army, Major- General Moses Gara, announced the arrest in a statement.

The statement released at the weekend signed by the Acting Media Information Officer, Headquarters JTF Operation Whirl Stroke, Lieutenant Ahmad Zubairu,said DSS operatives on October 29,alerted troops of Sector 2 to an incident involving an adult female resident who was allegedly threatened by one Mukaila Iliyasu.

He said the suspect reportedly demanded ₦200,000 from the victim, threatening to abduct her if she failed to meet his demand.

Gara, further disclosed that following the report, troops and DSS operatives promptly coordinated an anti-kidnapping operation to apprehend the suspect.

He said in a well-coordinated sting operation, a soldier, acting in disguise and displaying exceptional gallantry, delivered the money to the suspect, leading to his arrest while receiving the alleged ransom.

Gara further revealed that the suspect have been subsequently handed over to the DSS for further investigation and possible prosecution, describing the operation was successfully conducted with precision and professionalism.

The Force Commander, commended the troops and DSS operatives for their professionalism, gallantry and effective inter-agency collaboration.

He urged them to sustain the existing intelligence-sharing framework and operational synergy towards tackling kidnapping and other security threats within the Joint Operations Area.