Laleye Dipo in Minna
Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, has said the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps officials that handled the case of the 37 Illegal miners who died in their custody were “unprofessional’ in the way the matter was handled.
Bago made the remarks in Minna, yesterday, when he received officials of the state Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), who paid him a sympathy visit at the Government House.
“The death of the artisanal miners would have been avoided, but due to lack of professionalism on the part of the officers,” Bago declared before restating that government would investigate the issue to its logical conclusion.
He prayed to God to console the relations of the deceased illegal miners.
Bago also sued for continued peaceful coexistence among the diverse ethnic nationalities and adherents of the major religions in the state, adding that his administration would continue to accord equal treatments to all those resident in the state.
Bago further called for peaceful coexistence “as we don’t have any other state we can call our own.”
He, however, advised religious leaders to use their pulpits to discourage parents from allowing their children from partaking in artisanal mining, saying instead they should enroll them in schools as basic education was free in the state.
Earlier, the state CAN Chairman represented by his deputy, Reverend Joshua Markus Rikoto, condemned the death of the artisanal miners and commiserated with bereaved families and the Government and people of the state over the disaster.
He commended the state government for setting up a committee to investigate the matter and advised that the report of the committee should be implemented inorder to give the public assurance that government did not have any hand in the incident.