A security expert, Mr Edwin Ugwuja, Sunday, faulted the composition of the members of the panel of inquiry into the deaths of thirty-seven suspect illegal miners who died at a facility of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Minna, Niger State.
Ugwuja, a retired Assistant Commandant General of the NSCDC, said the panel without representatives of the corps “is like prosecuting a suspect in his absence”.
He said, “What happened is unfortunate. But there is no representative of NSCDC, either retired or serving. I lay more emphasis on retired because the police AIG serving in the panel is a retired officer. Many other members are retired too. It is against the law to prosecute somebody in his absence. They are prosecuting civil defence in their absence. NSCDC seems to have many enemies, especially among sister security agencies. Who will speak for the civil defence during the investigation? It should be balanced. At least let there be an assistant commandant general since an AIG is representing the police.”
He, however, commended the quality of members of the investigative panel. In his words, “A member of the board from the Nigeria Police, retired AIG Hosea Kama, is an officer with impeccable track-records. I know him when I was in service. He is from Taraba State. I was a Deputy Commandant in Anambra State when he was the state Commissioner of Police. When I was posted to Taraba as the state Commandant of NSCDC, the relationship continued. He is diligent, and I commend his appointment.”
Ugwuja also faulted the takeover of NSCDC office in Minna by the police as a result of the incident. He said, “It is very wrong and unconstitutional that another organisation should take over the premises of a constitutionally recognised security agency in the name of carrying out investigation. Maybe they have other motives. They are going beyond their powers. It is ultra vires. How can police take over the premises of the civil defence? Can they do that to the military, Customs, Immigration, or DSS? The Commandant General of NSCDC should do something about that. Civil Defence has not denied the panel any access to their premises. I don’t see the reasons they should leave their own premises to occupy a premises of another law enforcement agency. What happens to the state commandant who might be denied access to his office? All the cases pending in those offices, what will happen to them? Some cases require urgent attention.”
Ugwuja said he is not against the investigation into the circumstances leading to the deaths. According to him, “The investigation should be diligent to forestall a recurrent. But let no agency be supplanted.”
Our correspondent reports that the thirty-seven men reportedly died on September 17 while in NSCDC custody in Minna after they were arrested at the Wushishi-Lukoto axis over alleged illegal mining.
The federal government had constituted a ten-member independent committee to investigate the circumstances leading to the deaths of victims. Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo announced the constitution of the panel sequel to a directive by President Bola Tinubu. The committee is chaired by retired Deputy Director of the Department of State Services, Jonathan Kure, while Prof Isa Chiroma (SAN), former Director-General, Nigerian Law School, is the secretary. Other members of the panel include AIG Hosea Kama, and Prof Olayinka Buhari, a professor of histopathology.
