Some civil society organisations have called for the arrest and prosecution of the owner of the mining site where 37 suspected illegal miners were arrested before they died in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Niger State.
The groups said the investigation should go beyond the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the miners and establish the identity of those who owned and operated the mining site.
The demand followed an allegation by one of the survivors that the gold-mining site belonged to former military Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd.).
SaharaReporters quoted one of the survivors, Malam Babawo Tudun Nasera, as saying that NSCDC officials had previously ordered miners at the site to stop working. However, he alleged that they continued after the person he identified as the owner instructed them to resume operations.
When asked about the identity of the owner, Nasera allegedly named Babangida.
However, Babangida denied the allegation. His aide, Dr Danladi Abdulhameed, described the report linking the former military ruler to the mining operation as false, baseless and without foundation.
Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, the Executive Director of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, said the investigation should identify everyone behind the illegal mining operation.
He said not only the owner of the site but also officials responsible for monitoring mining activities should be investigated and prosecuted if found culpable.
Anthony Adejuwon, Team Lead of civic technology organisation Urban Alert, also called for the identities of those behind the mining activities to be established.
Adejuwon said that if the site had been licensed to a company, the company should be held accountable for any violation of the Mining Act and other relevant regulations.
He also stressed that mining operators must obtain the appropriate licences, noting that an exploration licence could not be used for activities requiring a mining lease.
Meanwhile, the Niger State Government did not respond to enquiries from Sunday PUNCH regarding the ownership of the site.
The NSCDC spokesman, Rabiu Muti, said the corps did not know the actual owner of the land.
A security source, however, alleged that several prominent Niger State indigenes owned land where gold and other precious minerals were being mined. The source linked continued illegal mining to insecurity and criminal activities in the state.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has also called on four United Nations Special Rapporteurs to intervene in the matter.
In an appeal dated September 18, SERAP urged the UN to demand answers from Nigerian authorities and ensure that the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the 37 people in NSCDC custody, as well as the reported use of lethal force against protesters in Minna, are independently investigated.
The organisation said those responsible for any unlawful deaths or serious injuries should be identified and brought to justice.
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