By Our Correspondent<\/p>\n
A couple of days after the death of 37 alleged illegal Miners,President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered a full and transparent investigation into the avoidable deaths of the suspected illegal miners detained by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC), in Minna, Niger State.<\/p>\n
The President warned that any official found responsible for the deaths through negligence, abuse or misconduct will be arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the law.
\nThe directive followed reports of deaths among persons detained after enforcement operations around the Lt. Gen. Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi Estate in Minna.<\/p>\n
The order was contained in a statement issued by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, where the State House confirmed that steps have been initiated for a comprehensive investigation.<\/p>\n
Expressing deep concern, President Tinubu said while government will continue to combat illegal mining and other criminal activities, enforcement must be conducted strictly within the law and with respect for human dignity.
\nHe stressed that suspicion of illegal mining does not remove the right to life, saying, “The fact that these individuals were suspected of illegal mining does not in any way remove their right to life, dignity and humane treatment while in government custody.”
\nThe President directed that the investigation must cover the circumstances of arrests, the condition of detainees after arrest, detention conditions, number of persons held, medical attention provided and events leading to their deaths.
\nHe insisted on accountability, stating: “Where the investigation establishes that any official, through action, abuse or negligence, contributed to these deaths, such an officer must be arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the law. There must be accountability.”
\nPresident Tinubu also cautioned that suspension of officers is only an administrative step and must not substitute for criminal investigation, directing the Ministry of Interior and the NSCDC leadership to cooperate fully and not interfere with the process.
\nThe Federal Government has consequently constituted a 10-member independent committee to establish identities of the deceased, examine their arrest and detention, determine causes of death and establish responsibility, with a two-week deadline.
\nIt also suspended the NSCDC Niger State Commandant and 20 other officers pending outcome, while ordering preservation of all relevant records.
\nExtending condolences to families of the deceased, Tinubu appealed for calm and said law enforcement must not create another illegality while pursuing one, adding: “We must never allow the pursuit of one form of illegality to create another. The government must enforce the law firmly, but it must also obey the law. The sanctity of human life is non-negotiable.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Our Correspondent A couple of days after the death of 37 alleged illegal Miners,President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered a full and transparent investigation into the avoidable deaths of the suspected illegal miners detained by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC), in Minna, Niger State. The President warned that any official found […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17834"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17835,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17834\/revisions\/17835"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}