Ministry director accuses mining marshals of assault, detention in Niger

An Assistant Director in the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Hajiya Halima Omolara Ibrahim, has accused Mining Marshal operatives of assaulting and detaining her while performing her official duties at a mining site in Kwakuti, Paikoro Local Government Area of Niger State.

Ibrahim made the allegation while testifying before the Justice Mohammed Mohammed Judicial Commission of Inquiry investigating the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC.

She told the commission that the incident occurred on April 17, 2026, when operatives allegedly led by SC Jibrin Mohammed raided the site and arrested her alongside artisanal miners.

According to her, the operatives ignored her official identification card and refused to listen to her explanations despite identifying herself as a ministry official.

She alleged that she was beaten, strangled, dragged on the ground and humiliated before being taken to the Mining Marshal’s headquarters in Minna, where she was detained from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.

“I was beaten, molested, humiliated, strangulated and beaten to a state of pulp and dragged on the ground before they bundled me into their waiting van,” she told the commission.

She said she sustained facial bruises and her clothes were torn during the alleged assault.

Ibrahim said her responsibilities included registering artisanal miners, supervising their activities and ensuring compliance with mining regulations. She disclosed that her office had registered about 400 artisanal miners to operate alongside licensed miners in the state.

She accused the Mining Marshal of conducting enforcement operations without involving her office, despite an existing working relationship between the ministry’s enforcement unit and security operatives.

She also alleged that Mining Marshal operatives extorted between N6 million and N7 million from miners and took their mined gold.

The witness reportedly submitted documentary evidence, which the commission admitted as exhibits.

On the deaths of the 37 suspected miners, Ibrahim said her office was unaware of the operation that reportedly led to their deaths between September 16 and 17, 2026.

She alleged that other miners had died during security operations in Niger State without attracting similar public attention, naming Korokpa and Garafini in Borgu Local Government Area and Kwakuti in Paikoro Local Government Area as locations where such deaths allegedly occurred during NSCDC operations.

According to her, the deaths of the 37 miners attracted attention because they occurred in the agency’s custody.

The commission is investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths and other allegations arising from mining enforcement operations in the state.