Former military Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (retd.), has denied claims linking him to a gold-mining site in Niger State where suspected illegal miners were arrested before 37 detainees later died in Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) custody.
The denial followed a claim by a survivor of the incident, Malam Babawo Tudun Nasera, who identified Babangida as the alleged owner of the mining site while recounting the arrest of the miners.
Nasera said his 17-year-old brother, Salim, was among those arrested and later died in custody. According to his account, the miners were working at the site when security personnel arrived and ordered them to stop.
He reportedly said the miners continued working because the person he identified as the owner had instructed them to do so. When asked who owned the site, Nasera named Babangida and subsequently confirmed that he was referring to the former military ruler.
The ownership claim, however, has not been independently established, and it was initially unclear whether the survivor was referring to ownership of the mining operation, the land, a mining lease or another form of association with the site.
Responding through his representative, Dr Danladi Umar Abdulhameed, Babangida rejected the allegation, describing it as false and without foundation.
The representative said Babangida had no connection with the mining operation and called for the report linking him to the site to be corrected.
The dispute comes amid an ongoing investigation into the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners who were detained following an NSCDC operation targeting suspected illegal mining activities around the M.I. Wushishi and Lukoto areas of Minna.
The NSCDC had said the actual cause of the deaths had not been conclusively established and that medical examinations were required to determine what happened.
The Federal Government has since constituted a 10-member independent committee to investigate the reported deaths. The committee was established following President Bola Tinubu’s directive for a comprehensive and transparent investigation into the incident.
The Interior Ministry also ordered the suspension of officers connected to the incident pending the outcome of the investigation. The committee has been given two weeks to complete its assignment and submit its report.
Babangida has also condemned the deaths and called for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident, while urging affected families and residents to remain calm as authorities work to establish the facts.
The ownership of the mining site, the circumstances surrounding the arrests and detention, and the cause of the 37 deaths remain subject to investigation.
