FROM SAMSON ALFA, Minna
Officials of the Ministry of Minerals Resources reportedly escaped mob attack as over 300 angry women and youths of Tutungo community in Paikoro LGA of Niger State threatened to attack them as they went on a fact-finding mission to the area.
AljazirahNigeria gathered that the officials were investigating the cause of the death of two brothers at a mining site located in the area.
According to the report it was alleged that the officials of the National security and civil defense corps NSCDC extort the sum of N25,000 from the the members of the community last Thursday where the two deceased brothers Zubairu and Sadiq Ibrahim, aged between 20 and 25, died at a mining site at Kakaki village, Butu.
It was gathered that the alleged extortion by the officials of NSCDC did not go down well with the members of the community and felt rather than helping or sympathizing with the family over the loss, the officials demanded and collected the sum of N25,000 from them,thus the transfer of aggression on the ministry officials.
It was gathered that the ministry’s officials narrowly escaped lynch by the angry youths who were said to be in possession of cutlasses,sticks waiting to strike, though the ministry officials escape the area unhurt through the help of some members of the community.
Confirming the development, the State Ministry for Mineral Resources in a statement by the Public Relations Officer, Mrs Dibie Maureen, said the team led by the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Yunusa Mohammed Nahauni encountered difficulties accessing the site.
The statement added that, “The community members disclosed that officials from the National Security and Civil Defence Corps ,NSCDC, had allegedly extorted 25,000 from the parents of the deceased to fuel their vehicles, causing the villagers, particularly the youth and women, to express their anger on the team.Â
There thought was that the team had also visited them to extort money. However, with pleading and persuasion from the Permanent Secretary and the Director, Mining, the situation was calmed before leaving the village.
The Perm Secretary, however, reminded the community that the governor’s order suspending mining in the state and crackdown on illegal mining operations still enforce, warning that anyone found in violation of these regulations would face the wrath of the law.
In his response, the District Head of Tutungo Paiko LGA, Mallam Muda Abdullahi thanked the team and acknowledged their awareness of the consequences.
Contacted, the state headquarters of NSCDC through it’s Public Relations Officer, DSC Abubakar Muti denied the allegations,stated, that “the Deputy Governor Comrade Yakubu Garba along with our Commandant had earlier led a delegation to the area”. You don’t expect the family of the deceased to give us money.
“The allegation is false, we have cautioned all our divisional officers and there was nothing of that sort that happened,We have also gone there, done our report and submitted our report to the acting governor of the state”, the Command Pro re-emphasised.
