Commander of the Mining Marshals of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, John Onoja. Credit: Mining Marshals
The Commander of the Mining Marshals of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, John Onoja, on Monday dismissed a police investigation report linking one of his officers to over ₦2bn in suspicious financial transactions following the death of a mining marshal operative.
Onoja also accused foreign nationals allegedly involved in illegal mining of sponsoring what he described as a coordinated campaign to discredit the Mining Marshals, a special unit established by the NSCDC to combat illegal mining nationwide.
The controversy follows a viral publication titled, “Nigeria Police Arrest Three NSCDC Officers Over Colleague’s Death, Trace Over ₦2bn To Suspect’s Bank Account,” which claimed that police investigators uncovered suspicious transactions linked to one of the officers under investigation in connection with the death of a Mining Marshals operative.
Responding in a statement, Onoja described the report as false, misleading and aimed at undermining the work of the anti-illegal mining unit.
