The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, has vowed to ensure justice for a police officer killed on Wednesday during a joint patrol operation in Niger State.
The patrol team comprised personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), local security operatives known as Anti-Drugs Control (ADC), and officials of Millennium Metals Mining Company.
In a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja by his Special Assistant on Media, Segun Tomori, the minister condemned the killing and directed security agencies to apprehend those responsible.
According to the Niger State Commandant of the NSCDC, Suberu Aniviye, the incident occurred at Zuzungi in Kataeregi, Katcha Local Government Area, during a routine operation aimed at curbing illegal mining and preventing the unlawful smuggling of solid minerals from the company’s mining site.
Aniviye said the patrol team was attacked by armed illegal miners while intercepting suspected smugglers. One officer was killed, and an NSCDC Hilux vehicle was set ablaze during the assault.
Reacting to the development, Alake said relevant security and intelligence agencies had been placed on red alert to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.
“The illegal miners responsible for the murder of the gallant officer in active service will be made to face the full wrath of the law. Their arrest and prosecution will send the right signal that this administration maintains zero tolerance for all forms of illegal mining and will do everything possible to defend its agents from murder,” he said.
The minister, who established the NSCDC Mining Marshals to enforce mining laws, said the killing and destruction of government property would not deter the Federal Government from its resolve to sanitise the mining sector.
“This will not deter the Federal Government from securing the sector to promote legal miners and mining communities,” he added.
Alake also noted that strong investor interest in Nigeria at the ongoing Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town underscores the need to sustain confidence in the sector and confront violent actors threatening its stability.