Alake vows to seek out killers of police officer in Niger mining assault

The Minister of Stable Minerals Improvement, Dele Alake, has pledged that these accountable for the killing of a police officer throughout an anti-illegal mining operation in Niger State shall be dropped at justice.

The officer was killed on Wednesday throughout a joint patrol in Zuzungi, Kataeregi, in Katcha Native Authorities Space.

The operation concerned personnel of the Nigeria Safety and Civil Defence Corps, the Nigeria Police Pressure, native safety operatives often called Anti-Medication Management, and officers of Millennium Metals Mining Firm.

Based on the Niger State Commandant of the NSCDC, Suberu Aniviye, the workforce was attacked by armed unlawful miners whereas trying to intercept suspected smugglers on the firm’s mining website. The attackers reportedly shot and killed a police officer and set an NSCDC Hilux automobile ablaze.

Reacting to the event, Alake mentioned safety and intelligence companies had been positioned on crimson alert to trace down these behind the assault.

“The unlawful miners accountable for the homicide of the gallant officer will face the total weight of the regulation,” the minister mentioned. “Their arrest and prosecution will ship a transparent message that this administration has zero tolerance for unlawful mining and violence towards safety personnel.”

He added that the incident wouldn’t weaken the Federal Authorities’s resolve to sanitise the mining sector and defend professional operators.

Alake additionally famous that rising investor curiosity in Nigeria’s mining sector, notably on the ongoing Mining Indaba convention in Cape City, underscored the necessity to preserve stability and confidence within the business.

He assured that efforts to curb unlawful mining and safe mining communities throughout the nation would proceed regardless of the assault.