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The Mining Marshals have defended the continued closure of the Stone Rockers Nigeria Limited quarry in Abuja, saying the site remains central to an ongoing criminal case before the Federal High Court.

The agency’s position followed a recent petition by Stone Rockers to President Bola Tinubu and other government officials over the closure of its operations, which the company said had lasted about 13 months.

Stone Rockers had alleged that the shutdown was unlawful and not backed by a court order.

But the Commander of the Mining Marshals, Assistant Commandant of Corps John Onoja Attah, said the quarry was not sealed as an administrative penalty. Rather, he said, it remained the scene connected to the alleged offence for which Stone Rockers and its director, Kolawole Olaiya, are being prosecuted.

The defendants are standing trial in Charge No. FHC/ABM/VR/338/2026 over allegations of illegal mining within a mineral title area said to belong to Lord’s Career Ventures Nigeria Limited.

According to the Commander, the case followed investigations into petitions submitted by the complainant over a period of more than one year.

He said the petitions were referred to the Mining Marshals by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development and the Minister of Interior through the Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps for investigation and prosecution.

The Commander said investigators arrested the defendants at coordinates identified as longitude 7°17’24″E and latitude 8°52’11″N.

He said the Mining Marshals’ investigation established that the coordinates fell within Mining Lease No. 000395 ML, which belongs to Lord’s Career Ventures.

The agency cited a letter dated January 23, 2026 from the Mining Cadastre Office as part of the material supporting its position. According to the Commander, the letter confirmed that the disputed coordinates were located within the licensed mining area of the complainant.

The Mining Marshals also said correspondence generated during the investigation would form part of the evidence before the court.

The Commander specifically referred to a letter dated August 12, 2025, allegedly written by Mohammed Olanrewaju Jibril, a member of the defence team, on the instructions of the defendants.

He claimed that the correspondence contained statements relevant to the allegations against the defendants.

The Commander said the prosecution had assembled substantial documentary evidence and maintained that the case should be determined through the judicial process.

He also questioned the decision to seek administrative intervention while criminal and civil proceedings relating to the dispute were still before the courts.

“The issues raised by the defendants are already the subject of judicial proceedings,” he said, cautioning against actions that could interfere with or prejudice the cases.

The Mining Marshals further alleged that the defendants had pursued what it described as extrajudicial avenues to frustrate the prosecution.

The Commander said the latest petition to the President should be viewed in that context, while also alleging that previous petitions had been directed against him at the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.

He denied that such actions would affect the agency’s handling of the case.

“No matter the level of blackmail and harassment deployed by illegal mining and erring industry players, the Mining Marshals will not be deterred from ensuring that the full weight of the law is pressed very tightly against everyone who breaks the laws in the Nigerian mining sector,” he said.

The agency also addressed the status of workers who were arrested during the initial enforcement operation.

According to the Mining Marshals, prosecutors had amended the charge to remove the workers from the case after determining that they were employees acting for a disclosed principal and might not have possessed the criminal intent required for prosecution.

The agency said that position was now under review following subsequent developments, including the participation of some of the workers in protests over the continued closure of the quarry.

The Commander said prosecutors had been directed to consider whether the workers should be brought back into the proceedings if further evidence established their involvement in the alleged illegal mining activities.

The Mining Marshals also rejected suggestions that the enforcement operation was motivated by financial inducement.

The agency said Lord’s Career Ventures had complained repeatedly about financial losses allegedly resulting from its inability to commence mining operations because of the disputed activities.

However, the Commander said the company had not provided financial support or logistics to the Mining Marshals for the operation that led to the arrests.

He maintained that the enforcement action was based on evidence gathered during the investigation and was not influenced by the financial circumstances of either party.

The Commander urged media organisations to apply appropriate verification and editorial scrutiny when reporting disputes involving mining operations and ongoing court cases.

He said the media had an important role to play in the Federal Government’s efforts to reform the solid minerals sector and promote lawful mining.

The dispute between Stone Rockers and Lord’s Career Ventures has produced competing accounts over the ownership and use of the disputed mining area and the legality of the quarry’s closure.

Stone Rockers maintains that the prolonged shutdown of its operations is unlawful, while the Mining Marshals contend that the site is connected to allegations currently before the court.

With the matter now subject to judicial proceedings, the legal questions surrounding the disputed mining title, the alleged activities at the site and the continued closure of the quarry remain for the relevant courts to determine.

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The Kano State Government has set a target of taking 10,000 drug users off the streets and rehabilitating them within one year as part of a new strategy to tackle substance abuse and its links to violent crime.

The Chairman of the Kano State Multi-Joint Task Force on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Muhuyi Magaji Rimin-Gado, disclosed this on Saturday while outlining the government’s planned intervention for drug users, convicted offenders and vulnerable youths involved in substance abuse.

Rimin-Gado said the initiative would go beyond arrests and imprisonment by combining detoxification, rehabilitation, skills acquisition and economic empowerment to help former drug users reintegrate into society.

“Our goal is to take away 10,000 people from the streets within one year. This is a different approach from only taking them to prison. We are thinking about rehabilitation,” he said.

He explained that the process would begin with detoxification, after which beneficiaries would be enrolled in rehabilitation programmes and equipped with skills to make them economically productive.

“After what we call detoxification, we will take them to rehabilitation and guide them. All this will expose them to the necessary knowledge they need to address drug abuse, including training,” Rimin-Gado said.

According to him, the government plans to train beneficiaries in areas including tailoring, shoemaking, garment production and other crafts, with plans to expand the programme to additional trades and services.

“We are going to employ a mechanism where we will give training, including different kinds of craftsmanship that they would engage in,” he said.

The task force chairman said the intervention was designed to address the link between drug abuse, unemployment and violent crime, particularly gun violence involving youths.

“If you look at our operations, when going after these youths, it is not because we hate them or do not want them. It is because we want them rehabilitated,” he said.

Rimin-Gado said the government had also begun discussions with correctional authorities and other stakeholders to ensure that people released from correctional facilities could undergo rehabilitation and acquire skills to support their reintegration.

He said some drug users would be treated differently depending on the severity of their substance abuse, adding that those found with multiple substances could face prosecution, while others could be placed under the care of their parents or guardians.

The chairman said the planned intervention would also create economic opportunities by linking rehabilitated persons with markets in Kano, arguing that the approach could simultaneously reduce drug dependence and strengthen the state’s economy.

“We do not only eradicate the issue of drug dependence, drug abuse or gun violence; at the same time, we are building our economic potential,” he said.

Rimin-Gado described the programme as ambitious but expressed confidence that collaboration among government agencies, security institutions, correctional authorities, private-sector players and other stakeholders would make it successful.

“It’s a very ambitious project, but at least the government is very determined, and with the National [agencies] on board, we are going to succeed,” he said.

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership, led by Abdulrahman Mohammed, said on Sunday that it was not part of the opposition summit being organised by the socio-political pressure group G-100.

The summit, scheduled for August 31, 2026, in Abuja, is expected to bring together several opposition party figures to chart a common front against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s bid for a second term.

The summit is expected to explore ways to present a common candidate against the President, but some opposition parties have already backed out of the arrangement.

The Africa Democratic Congress (ADC) was quoted as saying that it does not need the coalition to win the presidential election next year, and indicated that its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, was not ready to step down from the race for another candidate.

National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Jagundo Haruna Mohammed, told The Nation on Sunday that they were not aware of any summit being organised by opposition parties and were not party to any.

He said, “The PDP is not aware of any gathering in the name of an opposition summit. We are also not in any planned arrangement with any political party for any possible alliance. And any opposition discussion where the PDP is not a party to is dead on arrival.”