The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has sanctioned 66 of its personnel for various offences, following investigations into allegations of misconduct. The affected officers were drawn from formations across the country.
The Commandant General of the NSCDC, Ahmed Audi, disclosed this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Friday. He said the sanctions ranged from dismissal and compulsory retirement to demotion and warnings.
According to Audi, the disciplinary actions followed the approval of the Civil Defence, Correction, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB), which gave the green light after investigations into the allegations against the affected personnel. He explained that the sanctions were imposed based on the nature and severity of the offences committed.
Arms Dealing and Prosecution
Some of the offences involved arms dealing, the Commandant General revealed. He added that officers found culpable of particularly serious offences would face prosecution.
“Some of them are to face prosecution while some had been dismissed after facing prosecution,” Audi said. “They will be prosecuted because of the veracity of the offence, level and kind of offence they have committed.”
The NSCDC boss stated that all the affected personnel had undergone the established disciplinary procedures, including orderly room trials and relevant staff disciplinary committees, before the board approved the sanctions. The officers were drawn from State Commands, Zonal Commands, Area Commands, the National Headquarters and other formations nationwide.
Discipline as a Cornerstone
Audi stressed that the NSCDC would not tolerate indiscipline or actions capable of undermining its professional standards. He said the exercise was intended to reinforce discipline within the corps and serve as a deterrent to other personnel who might violate its rules and regulations.
“The culture of any military or paramilitary organisation stands or is built on discipline,” he said.
The sanctions come amid heightened scrutiny of the corps over the conduct of its personnel. The NSCDC recently suspended an officer for allegedly firing shots into the air during a confrontation with traders at Kubwa Market in Abuja. A statement by the corps’ Public Relations Officer, Babawale Afolabi, said the officer was arrested by the FCT Police Command after acting unprofessionally, and that the Commandant General directed an orderly room trial to determine the personnel’s level of culpability.
Audi emphasised the corps’ zero tolerance for the misuse of firearms or any form of professional misconduct.
Questions Over Niger State Probe
It remains unclear whether the 66 personnel being sanctioned are among those probed and recommended for dismissal over their involvement in the killing of dozens of miners in Niger State. The deaths occurred under the watch of the suspended Niger State NSCDC Commandant, Suberu Siyaka Aniviye, who was suspended by the Federal Government and ordered to face a probe in Abuja.
The miners, comprising minors and other young people, were confirmed dead hours after operatives of the command locked them up following their arrest at mining sites around the M.I. Wushishi/Lukoto axis of Minna between September 15 and 16, 2026. Aniviye had claimed in a statement he personally signed that the miners died from a suspected disease outbreak.
However, the committee that probed the incident said NSCDC officers suffocated the miners to death. The panel recommended ₦1.4 billion in compensation for the families of the deceased miners and 44 survivors. Its chairman, Jonathan Kure, a former Deputy Director-General of the State Security Services, disclosed the findings on Tuesday, October 27, while presenting the report to the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, in Abuja.
Kure said the deaths were avoidable, adding that the victims, including 14 minors, were detained under inhuman conditions. The panel recommended the summary dismissal of the suspended Niger State Commandant and other officers directly involved in the detention of the suspects and the circumstances leading to their deaths.
