The Police have insisted that it would continue with the ongoing investigation into the illegal mining activities in Rafin Gabbas at Kokona LGA Nasarawa State, where dead bodies were recovered.
TheHintsNews reports that the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) had expressed its displeasure over the petition allegedly filed by the Commander of the Mining Marshal, ACC Attah Onoja, before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petition.
The petition filed against the police bothers on alleged attack and shooting of its mining marshals by some police officers, including the alleged obstruction of its efforts to prosecute illegal miners arrested in Nasarawa State.
But the Public Relations Officer, Abuja, CSC Afolabi Babawale, stated that the Commandant General, Dr. Ahmed Audi, was displeased by the development, noting that the commander of the Mining Marshal acted outside his purview by filing the petition without the authorisation of the management.
The NSCDC, therefore, dissociated itself from the petition, while the officer had been directed to immediately withdraw the said petition to allow for a smooth and amicable resolution of the issues raised, in the spirit of the robust inter-agency relationship
However, a security source, who spoke to journalists in Abuja, said since dead bodies have been recovered from the ongoing investigations, the investigations into the illegal mining activities in the areas would be intensified so as to determine what happened and how many people have died there.
Checks revealed that the police already secured a court order to investigate the mining sites, Nizhong Mining Company Limited and Capital Apex Synergy Global Services Limited — they are some of the mining companies allegedly operating illegally in the Rafin Gabbas mining sites.
Meanwhile, the villagers are already demanding a thorough investigation into the cause of the dead bodies recovered by the police investigators.
They are demanding justice and calling on the police to ascertain the number of people who have died in the mining sites and their identities.
One of the villagers, John Mark said, “It will be unfair if we don’t get justice for our brothers who have died on the sites. We are calling for thorough investigation and prosecution of all those indicated in this case.”