The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has cleared the Commander of the Mining Marshals, Assistant Commandant of Corps (ACC) John Onoja Attah, of allegations linking him to the murder of a Mining Marshals operative, even as the Corps announced disciplinary measures against 79 personnel for various acts of misconduct.
The NSCDC also disclosed the arrest of 12 suspects over offences including employment racketeering, certificate forgery and other criminal activities. Notably, neither ACC Onoja nor the controversial death of Deputy Superintendent of Corps (DSC) Agada Levi Agada, a Mining Marshals operative, featured in the disciplinary actions announced by the Corps.
The clarification comes amid sustained public interest in the circumstances surrounding the death of DSC Agada, a case that has generated multiple investigations and conflicting accounts.
Earlier, ACC Onoja had strongly rejected a police report that allegedly linked officers under his command to the death of the operative and to suspicious financial transactions. He described the report as false, misleading and part of what he called a coordinated campaign aimed at discrediting the Mining Marshals and frustrating the unit’s operations against illegal mining syndicates.
The latest position of the NSCDC indicated that Onoja was not found culpable or subjected to any administrative sanction over the murder allegations. Instead, the Corps’ disciplinary exercise focused exclusively on officers found to have engaged in misconduct, reinforcing the distinction between its internal disciplinary process and the separate criminal investigation into the death of the Mining Marshals operative.
The Corps sanctioned the 79 personnel for offences bordering on misconduct and breaches of service regulations, while investigations also led to the arrest of 12 suspects for alleged employment fraud, certificate forgery and other criminal offences.
The development is expected to put to rest speculations that the Commander of the Mining Marshals was among officers under disciplinary scrutiny over the death of the operative.
Under Onoja’s leadership, the Mining Marshals have remained a major enforcement arm of the Federal Government’s campaign against illegal mining, recording hundreds of arrests, prosecutions and enforcement operations across the country.
Despite controversies surrounding the death of one of its personnel, the unit has continued its nationwide crackdown on illegal mining activities. Onoja has consistently maintained that powerful interests benefiting from illegal mining have sought to undermine the Mining Marshals through misinformation and attempts to discredit the unit’s operations.
