NANYD Faults Miners' Death Probe Report, "Why Should National Headquarters Take the Fall?"
- The National Association of Nigerian Youth in Development challenged a federal committee's recommendation to overhaul NSCDC leadership following the deaths of 33 miners in Minna
- NANYD said the committee's own findings showed the Niger State commander ran the operation without informing national headquarters, making the overhaul call a direct contradiction
- The group's president threw his weight behind NSCDC Commandant-General Ahmed Abubakar Audi and questioned the motives behind the recommendation
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Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 8 years of experience covering basic and tertiary education in Nigeria and worldwide
FCT, Abuja - The National Association of Nigerian Youth in Development (NANYD) has pushed back against a federal committee's report on the deaths of 33 miners in Minna, arguing that its recommendation to overhaul the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) leadership directly contradicts its own findings.
Legit.ng reports that a federal government committee presented its findings on the deaths of 33 suspected illegal miners held by the NSCDC in Minna, Niger State.
Source: UGC
NANYD National President, Alhaji Bukura Ahmed (Ph.D.) acknowledged that the committee's work in submitting its report but firmly rejecting what he described as an illogical and politically motivated conclusion.
Ahmed made the position clear in a statement issued and made available to Legit.ng on Thursday, October 29, 2026.
Report findings and core contradiction
According to NANYD, the committee's executive summary found that the now-suspended Niger State NSCDC commander ran the arrest operation without informing the national headquarters, and that no approval was sought or granted from Abuja before the raid was carried out.
"The same report that recommends a total overhaul and restructuring of the NSCDC leadership also finds in its own words that the arrest operation was carried out without the requisite approval from NSCDC National Headquarters," Dr. Bukura said. "No proper planning, no involvement of the mining authorities, no involvement of the NSCDC leadership in Abuja or its Zonal Headquarters. The operation was conceived, executed and concealed at command level, far from the eyes of the Corps' leadership in Abuja."
He described the national headquarters not as the author of the tragedy but as a victim of its own subordinate's unilateral action.
NANYD questions logic of leadership overhaul
The group questioned why leadership that was deliberately kept in the dark should bear the consequences of a rogue operation. Dr. Bukura pointed out that Nigeria has 36 state commands, plus the FCT and zonal structures.
NANYD argued that one command choosing to bypass all established channels should not define the fate of a leadership that had no knowledge of the events.
"So why, then, does the same report call for the decap1tation of that leadership? Why should the National Headquarters take the fall for an operation it was never told about?" he said
The group added that the officers who packed 50 people into a cell and ignored their pleas should face consequences, not the leadership that would have intervened had it been informed.
NANYD also defended Commandant-General Professor Ahmed Abubakar Audi, praising his record at the agency and insisting that calls for his removal are driven by sentiment rather than evidence.
Dr. Bukura drew comparisons to security failures in Benue, Plateau and other states, arguing that applying the same logic to those situations would mean recommending the removal of service chiefs, state governors and even the president.
"There is a witch-hunt here and it is aimed at a leadership that the report's own findings exonerate," he said. "A committee that does good work in the findings and then undoes it in the recommendations has left the job half-finished and the half it left unfinished is the half that matters most."
Source: Twitter
2027 elections: NSCDC tasks officers on professional conduct
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that NSCDC Commandant General Professor Audi Ahmed Abubakar opened a three-day workshop for 216 officers drawn from across Nigeria's commands.
The workshop is focused on election security, legal frameworks, and how officers should handle situations during the 2027 general elections.
Representatives from the police, DSS, Immigration Service, and Corrections Service all attended the event at the Corps headquarters in Abuja.
Source: Legit.ng
