Dele Alake, the minister of solid minerals development, has vowed to ensure justice for a police officer killed on Wednesday during a  joint patrol operation in Niger.

The team comprised the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Nigerian Police Force and local security operatives known as Anti-Drugs Control, in collaboration with Millennium Metals Mining Company.

Mr Alake disclosed this  in a statement on Thursday.

The Niger commandant of the NSCDC, Suberu Aniviye, said that the officer was killed at Zuzungi, Kataeregi, in Katcha LGA.

Mr Aniviye said the incident occurred during a routine operation to curb illegal mining and prevent the unlawful smuggling of solid minerals from the mining company’s site.

He said that the team was attacked by armed illegal miners while intercepting suspected smugglers, killing an officer and setting an NSCDC Hilux vehicle ablaze.

The minister said that relevant security and intelligence agencies had been placed on red alert to bring the perpetrators to justice, saying, “those involved will be smoked out.”

The minister said those involved would be punished to deter others.

“The illegal miners responsible for the murder of the gallant officer in active service will be made to face the full wrath of the law. Their arrest and prosecution will send the right signal that this administration maintains zero tolerance for all forms of illegal mining and will do everything possible to defend its agents from murder,” he said.

Mr Alake, who set up the NSCDC mining marshals to enforce mining laws, said the officer’s murder and the arson of the agency’s vehicle would not deter the federal government’s determination to combat illegal mining.

“This will not deter the federal government from securing the sector to promote legal miners and mining communities,” Mr Alake said.

He said that the strong investor’s interest in Nigeria at the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town was a clear indication that the government needed to maintain confidence in the sector and confront violent actors.

(NAN)