The Police Service Commission (PSC) has approved the posting of Commissioner of Police Salisu Bello Fago as the new Commissioner of Police, Niger State Command, as the state continues to grapple with security challenges, including banditry and kidnapping.
The Niger State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Siyaka Suberu, deliberately attributed the deaths of 33 detainees in the agency's custody to a fictitious disease outbreak in an attempt to conceal the circumstances surrounding the tragedy, an independent investigation committee has found.
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, gave the assurance on Tuesday in Abuja while receiving the report of an independent investigative committee established to investigate the deaths.
Chairman of the committee and former Deputy Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Jonathan Kure, disclosed the findings on Tuesday while presenting the panel’s report to the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, in Abuja.
Assistant Superintendent of Corps (ASC), Usman Isah Ndamaka, made the disclosure while testifying before the Justice Mohammed Mohammed-led Judicial Commission of Inquiry investigating the September 17, 2026 deaths in Minna.
More than 80 people have reportedly been abducted in separate attacks by suspected bandits in Niger and Zamfara states, highlighting the continuing threat posed by armed criminal gangs to farming communities across northern Nigeria.
The death of 37 illegal miners in cloudy circumstances in Niger State has once again exposed the incompetence and poor conduct of relevant authorities in the execution of their briefs.
The inauguration followed President Bola Tinubu’s directive for a comprehensive, transparent and unhindered investigation into the deaths, which occurred on September 17 after the suspects were arrested during anti-illegal mining operations in Niger State.
Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, has imposed a 24-hour curfew on Minna, following protests, vandalism and destruction of property triggered by the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in the custody of NSCDC.
Bago disclosed this while speaking to journalists in the state capital, saying the government had launched an investigation into the incident and would establish what led to the deaths.
An Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo has dismissed a petition seeking the dissolution of a marriage that has lasted over 43 years, ruling that lack of love and mutual respect between spouses does not, on its own, constitute sufficient legal grounds for divorce.
