The Federal Government has deployed Mining Marshals for intelligence gathering, compliance monitoring and operational oversight in the solid minerals sector.

This was disclosed in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Commander of Mining Marshals Operations and Assistant Commandant of Corps, Attah Onoja.

Onoja stated that the deployment is part of efforts to strengthen enforcement against illegal mining activities.

“The Mining Marshals are now participating in investigations, intelligence gathering, compliance monitoring and fact-finding missions conducted by the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development.

“As part of the initiative, the Mining Marshals recently joined ministry officials on operational visits to mining sites in Nasarawa and Plateau states.

“The operations were carried out under the leadership of the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake,” the statement read.

The statement said that the operations were aimed at strengthening monitoring, regulatory compliance and operational oversight within the sector.

It read, “The team was led on different occasions by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo, who represented the minister during the field engagements.

“During one of the operational and fact-finding missions, the Commander of the Mining Marshals, ACC Attah John Onoja, accompanied ministry officials to a mining site allegedly being illegally exploited.

“The visit was part of efforts to verify allegations of unlawful mining activities, assess compliance with extant mining regulations and obtain field-based information necessary for administrative, regulatory and possible enforcement actions.”

“The delegation also included senior ministry officials such as Engr. Frank Odoom, Director of Special Duties; Engr. Imam A. Ganiyu, Director of Mines Inspectorate; Andrew Zubiri, Director of Legal Services; and Ibrahim Abdulmajeed J., representing the Director General of the Mining Cadastre Office.”

According to the statement, the engagements created an important feedback mechanism between government authorities and mining communities.

It added that the engagements enabled concerns relating to illegal mining, environmental practices, security challenges and regulatory compliance to be communicated directly to authorities.

It further stated that the Mining Marshals have continued to support the ministry’s operations through “intelligence support, operational collaboration and inter-agency coordination across mining communities nationwide.”

Outrage has followed the alleged assault and arrest of four staff members of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Akwa Ibom State, including the Deputy Chairman, Medical Advisory, Effiong Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery, during an investigation involving the verification of a medical report submitted by a fraud suspect.

The incident followed a visit to the hospital by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Tuesday.

PUNCH Online reported that the EFCC operatives arrived at the hospital premises in the afternoon and attempted to arrest a staff member, leading to resistance from workers and other hospital personnel.

Eyewitnesses alleged that the operatives later called for reinforcement and that additional officers fired shots into the air to disperse workers who gathered at the scene.

According to PUNCH Online, the operatives eventually took away Ekpe, and three other staff members.

Some persons were reportedly injured during the incident, while phones were said to have been damaged as workers tried to record the scene.

In a statement obtained by PUNCH Metro on X on Tuesday, the EFCC admitted that its operatives visited the hospital to authenticate a medical report submitted by a suspect standing trial before Justice M.A. Onyetunu of the Federal High Court in Uyo over alleged fraud involving several microfinance banks, including the University of Uyo Microfinance Bank.

“The suspect had presented a medical report which required authentication by the UUTH management. The Commission wrote two different letters, dated March 11, 2026, and April 20, 2026, to the hospital management to this effect without receiving any response,” the agency stated.

The anti-graft agency noted that its investigating officer later visited the hospital to follow up on the request but still received no response.

“As a last resort, operatives of the commission visited the chief medical director of the hospital on Tuesday to make further enquiries, only to be locked in with a false alarm and subjected to an unprovoked attack by misguided staff of the facility who pelted them with stones and other dangerous objects,” the statement added.

The EFCC also alleged that the hospital management shut the gates against its operatives despite intervention from the police.

“Police authorities in Akwa Ibom State advised the CMD to open the hospital gates to enable the operatives to exit the premises peacefully, but the entreaties were turned down,” it said.

The agency insisted that its operatives acted professionally and did not disrupt hospital activities. It also warned that obstructing lawful investigations could attract legal consequences.

Meanwhile, medical doctors and health workers at the hospital have declared an indefinite strike over the incident.

The chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association in Akwa Ibom State, Dr Aniekan Peters, reportedly directed doctors across the state to suspend services, while the Joint Health Sector Unions also announced a total shutdown of hospital activities in protest.

Speaking on the development, the Public Relations Officer of the NMA in the state, Dr Gabriel Eyo, described the incident as an attack on the hospital and its workers.

“In the early hours of this morning, masked men wearing EFCC jackets stormed into the hospital premises, walked into the office of the Deputy Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee, Prof. Effiong Ekpe, and beat him to a pulp,” Eyo alleged.

“They dragged him like a common criminal. When members of staff, students and other health workers tried to resist them, they shot sporadically into the air and dispersed the crowd with tear gas,” he added.

‘Eyo said Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery, ‘was allegedly injured during the incident.’

“Whatever he did, there is a due process for this kind of thing. Even criminals are not treated this way. The only thing that should have been done would have been to send an invitation, which was not done,” he stated.

He added that the incident was traumatic for workers and patients, noting that the NMA had begun an indefinite strike in protest.

Reacting to the claims, the Commissioner of Police in Akwa Ibom State, Baba Azare, said police officers only accompanied the EFCC officials to verify the operation after the hospital management contacted him.

“The EFCC went for an arrest in the hospital this morning, and the CMD called me to verify if my men were among those in the hospital,” he said.

Azare explained that he later confirmed from the EFCC that the officers were acting on a court order linked to an ongoing case.

“I called the CMD and advised him to open the gate for them to carry that man because it is a legitimate duty,” he added.

The incident has also sparked reactions on social media, with several Nigerians criticising the EFCC’s conduct and describing it as an excessive use of force.

One X user, Richard David, questioned the agency’s priorities, writing, “When EFCC claimed that they did not know CBEX officials who scammed nearly one million Nigerians were operating, some of you were talking down on the victims. Now the EFCC has burst the safe haven of a hospital where your sick loved ones are and you are shouting?”

Another X user, identified as @Shaibu, described the incident as “shameful and disgraceful.”

“You came to the hospital requesting their expertise, and somehow you are trying to justify intimidation. Even if the doctor or healthcare worker is the suspect, the EFCC can only arrest when they have a warrant. Choosing not to cooperate with the EFCC is not a crime,” the user wrote.

Another X user, @MaduforUch2532, argued that hospitals operate under strict protocols and security procedures.

“A hospital is not a criminal hideout. Medical institutions have protocols, patient privacy obligations and security procedures. Staff reacting to unidentified masked men within hospital premises is not surprising,” the user stated.

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The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday watched a video recording in which an Islamic cleric, standing trial over the coup plot, told investigators that he warned the suspected conspirators that their plan would fail and that they would eventually be betrayed.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik also ordered a joint trial-within-trial to determine the voluntariness of statements and video recordings the prosecution sought to tender against the six defendants.

The ruling followed objections by defence lawyers, who argued that the statements were obtained in violation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act and the Anti-Torture Act.

The Federal Government had on April 22 arraigned six defendants, including a retired major-general, over allegations of treason, terrorism, money laundering and conspiracy to overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s government.

The defendants are Maj-Gen Mohammed Ibrahim Gana (retd.); Navy Capt Erasmus Ochegobia Victor (retd.); police inspector Ahmed Ibrahim; Presidential Villa electrician Zekeri Umoru; Bukar Kashim Goni; and a Zaria-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abdulkadir Sani.

They all pleaded not guilty to the 13 charges.

At Monday’s proceedings, prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), informed the court that the fourth prosecution witness remained in the witness box and applied for the playback of a video recording containing the alleged statement of the sixth defendant, Sani.

In the video played in open court, Sani said he knew the alleged ringleader, Col Maaji, for less than one year and was introduced to him through a man identified as Sanda.

The cleric said Sanda approached him for prayers concerning a planned coup and informed him that his “oga” needed spiritual guidance and divination over the success of the operation.

According to Sani, after conducting prayers, he informed them that the operation would fail.

“I warned them the coup would fail,” he said in the recording.

He added that he also told them that two persons involved in the alleged conspiracy would eventually betray the group.

Sani further stated that Sanda later returned with another request for prayers “so that the two individuals would not betray the group.”

The cleric said money was subsequently transferred to him for prayers and charity, while the names of persons allegedly involved in the plot were also sent to him for inclusion in the prayers.

According to him, shortly after the prayers commenced, Sanda informed him that Col Maaji had not been seen for four days.

He added that he later learnt through media reports that arrests had been made over an alleged coup plot.

Sani, however, maintained in the video that the money transferred to him was not payment for supporting a coup.

“The money was meant for prayers,” he told investigators.

He also admitted that he understood a coup to mean a military overthrow of government, but claimed he did not report the alleged plot because he did not know who to report to.

The cleric narrated that he was later arrested after visiting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over restrictions placed on his bank account.

According to him, he discovered that the account had been flagged when he attempted to make withdrawals from the money sent to him.

He said that after contacting an EFCC deputy director, he was invited to the commission’s office, where he explained that the funds were meant for prayers.

Sani also stated in the recording that he did not make any statement relating to a coup while in EFCC custody.

Before the end of the video, the cleric confirmed that nobody assaulted or tortured him and that his “statements were made voluntarily.”

Following the playback, Oyedepo applied to tender extra-judicial statements allegedly made by the first to fifth defendants before a Special Investigation Panel and military police authorities, alongside Sani’s statement before military investigators.

The move was strongly opposed by lawyers representing all six defendants.

Muhammed Ndayako (SAN) appeared for the first defendant, while Paul Erokoro (SAN), A.H. Shehu, C.D. Okafor, M.A. Ibrahim, Olalekan Ojo (SAN), and Sanusi Musa (SAN) represented the other defendants.

The defence lawyers argued that the statements and accompanying video recordings were not voluntarily made and failed to comply with safeguards provided under the ACJA.

Some of the lawyers also relied on provisions of the Anti-Torture Act, 2017, alleging oppression, inducement and coercion during interrogation.

Counsel for the second defendant argued that his client was neither informed of his right to legal representation nor granted access to counsel before his statement was recorded.

The fourth defendant’s lawyer further argued that the video failed to establish whether his client’s legs were free during interrogation, insisting that coercion could not be ruled out.

Ojo, counsel for the fifth defendant, urged the court to order separate trial-within-trial proceedings for each defendant since all the accused persons were disputing the voluntariness of their statements.

Responding, Oyedepo said the prosecution was “not afraid of a trial within a trial.”

He, however, urged the court to conduct a single joint proceeding instead of separate hearings for each defendant.

After listening to the arguments, Justice Abdulmalik ruled that the court would conduct “a joint trial within a trial to determine the voluntariness of the statements.”

The judge subsequently adjourned the matter till May 12 for continuation of proceedings.

The prosecution had alleged that the defendants planned to attack the Presidential Villa, detain Tinubu and other top government officials, and take control of strategic institutions.

Investigators also alleged that no fewer than 32 vehicles were procured for covert operations linked to the alleged plot.

Relatives protest

Meanwhile, relatives and sympathisers of military officers standing trial over the coup plot staged a peaceful protest at the Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja on Monday, demanding an open trial and the release of the detained suspects.

The demonstrators, who converged on the ministry’s entrance, chanted solidarity songs and displayed placards bearing inscriptions such as “Tinubu Release Our Heroes,” “Lt Col C Chima 419 Witness,” and “AGF, Stop the Kangaroo Court Martial Now.”

Security personnel, including operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, however, prevented the protesters from gaining access to the ministry premises, restricting them to the entrance gate.

The protest comes amid growing criticism over the handling of the coup trial, particularly after journalists were barred last week from covering proceedings involving some of the accused officers.

Addressing journalists during the protest, the leader of the demonstrators, Justice Isimili, said many of those present were relatives of the detained officers who travelled from different parts of the country.

“Many of the people who turned out today are relatives of our heroes. Some of them came from Jos, Kano and Sokoto to protest the continued detention of the alleged coup suspects who are our fathers, uncles and brothers.

“All we are asking is for the President, who is our father, to temper justice with mercy. We want him to come to our aid. Many of us have not been able to rest or do anything because of our loved ones who are still being held.”

He condemned what he described as the secretive nature of the ongoing court-martial proceedings.

“We want an open trial instead of what they are doing in the name of court martial, where family members, journalists and the public are denied access to the court proceedings. All we are interested in is their freedom,” he added.

Another protester, Abdullahi Kale, who claimed he travelled from Sokoto for the demonstration, alleged that the continued detention of the suspects was creating the impression that northern military officers were being targeted.

“No freedom, no second term. If the President and the AGF fail to release them, we will mobilise the North against Tinubu’s re-election,” he threatened.

A female protester, Habibat Muhammad, who carried her one-year-old child, Abba, on her back, also appealed for leniency.

Speaking in Hausa, she lamented that life had become difficult for many of the affected families since the suspects were arrested about eight months ago from their homes and military formations.

Responding to the protesters, a director in the ministry, who declined to disclose her name, urged the demonstrators to remain calm and orderly.

According to her, the ministry had yet to receive any formal letter detailing their grievances and demands.

“This is what we told them. They should go back and put their house in order before coming back.

“When you return, let only two persons come with your letter. But if you insist on coming as a group like you did today, it will be misrepresented to mean another thing.”

When pressed to reveal her identity, the official declined.

“On this issue, I can’t give a name. I am just a director in the ministry. What I have only come to offer them is an explanation, which has been done. That is all,” she stated.

The latest protest adds to earlier demonstrations by families of the detained officers, who have repeatedly demanded either their release or immediate arraignment in a transparent and public court process.

The controversy surrounding the trial deepened two weeks ago when journalists were barred from covering bail proceedings involving six of the suspects at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Court officials, backed by operatives of the Department of State Services, reportedly ordered reporters out of the courtroom shortly before proceedings began.

The suspects are facing charges bordering on treason, terrorism, money laundering and failure to disclose information.

While some serving military officers are being tried before a court-martial in Abuja, others are facing trial in civilian courts.

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