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The Civil Societies Coalition for Transparency and Accountability has described as misleading and distracting the call for the sacking of the Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Prof. Ahmed Abubakar Audi, over the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners in custody.
The appeal was launched by a lawyer and human rights activist, Hamza N. Dantani, who in a petition to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, called for the end of Audi’s mandate and an independent investigation into the allegations against him.
But in a press release issued in Abuja on Friday, the National Coordinator of the coalition, Comrade Bilal Galadima, said the request was selfish and selective.
untimely and spiteful.
The group recalled that the suspects were arrested during operations conducted on September 15 and 16 around the estate of Lieutenant General Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi in Minna.
It quoted NSCDC spokesperson Babawale Afolabi as saying that more than 50 people have been arrested and are yet to be charged because profiling and documentation were still ongoing before the deaths occurred.
“Based on available information, the state commander confessed that he did not inform his boss about the arrest of the alleged illegal miners. They are presumed innocent until evidence is presented,” the coalition said.
The coalition noted that the Federal Government has already suspended the Niger State NSCDC Commander and constituted a 10-member independent committee to investigate the incident as directed by President Tinubu and the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
“At this sad time, it is quite shocking that instead of waiting for the outcome of the different levels of investigation, Dantani and his associates chose to remain standing,” the statement read.
Civil society also questioned what it described as the petitioner’s selective activism.
“Where was the lawyer when a military drone killed 85 civilians gathered for a religious celebration in Tudun Biri, Kaduna State? Where was this lawyer when 16 civilians were killed in a military airstrike in Zurmi and Maradun Local Government of Zamfara State, similar accidental killings in Sokoto and Borno and did not call for the sacking of the then military chiefs.
“We assume that the petitioner was in Nigeria, was aware of the killings and brutality during the #EndSARS protests, and yet did not call for the sacking of the then Inspector General of Police,” the group asked.
The coalition called on Dantani and all Nigerians to allow the rule of law to take its full course and await the outcome of the fact-finding committee set up by the Federal Government.
