The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Mining Marshals have defended the continued closure of the Stone Rockers Nigeria Limited quarry site in Abuja, saying the facility remains a crime scene in an ongoing criminal case before the Federal High Court.
The clarification followed a petition by Stone Rockers Nigeria Limited to President Bola Tinubu and other government officials over the 13-month closure of its operations.
The company had alleged that the closure was unlawful and unsupported by any court order.
However, the Commander of the Mining Marshals, John Onoja Attah, said the quarry was sealed not as an administrative sanction but because it constituted the locus criminis in a criminal matter before the court.
According to him, Stone Rockers and its director, Kolawole Olaiya, are standing trial in Charge No. FHC/ABM/VR/338/2026 over allegations of illegal mining activities within a mineral title area belonging to Lord’s Career Ventures Nigeria Limited.
The Commander said the prosecution followed investigations triggered by several petitions submitted by the complainant company over a period of more than one year.
He said the petitions were subsequently referred by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development and the Minister of Interior to the Mining Marshals through the Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps for investigation and prosecution.
He disclosed that investigators arrested the defendants at coordinates identified as longitude 7°17’24”E and latitude 8°52’11”N, which, according to the Mining Marshals, fall within Mining Lease No. 000395 ML belonging to Lord’s Career Ventures Nigeria Limited.
To support the claim, the agency cited a letter dated January 23, 2026, from the Mining Cadastre Office, which it said confirmed that the disputed coordinates were within the complainant’s licensed mining area.
The Mining Marshals also said part of the evidence to be tendered before the court included correspondence allegedly written by a member of the defence team, Mohammed Olanrewaju Jibril, during the investigation.
According to the Commander, the letter, dated August 12, 2025, and allegedly written on the instructions of the defendants, contained admissions relevant to the allegations before the court.
He maintained that the prosecution’s case went beyond the disputed coordinates and correspondence, describing the documentary evidence gathered during the investigation as substantial.
The agency also questioned what it described as attempts by the defendants to seek administrative intervention while criminal and civil proceedings relating to the dispute remain before the courts.
“The issues raised by the defendants are already the subject of judicial proceedings,” the Commander said, warning against actions capable of undermining or prejudicing the ongoing cases.
He further alleged that the defendants were pursuing “every extrajudicial means” to frustrate the criminal proceedings, arguing that their petition to the President did not merit official consideration.
The Commander said the petition formed part of what he described as a broader effort to influence public opinion following what he called unsuccessful attempts to harass him through petitions to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
He maintained that public campaigns and institutional pressure would not deter the Mining Marshals from pursuing 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.
He also appealed to media organisations to strengthen their editorial gatekeeping processes to ensure that reports lacking sufficient verification do not gain traction in the public domain.
According to him, the media remains a critical stakeholder in the Federal Government’s reforms in the solid minerals sector and has an important role to play in promoting lawful and responsible mining practices.
On the status of workers initially arrested during enforcement operations, the Mining Marshals said prosecutors had earlier amended the charge to exclude them on the grounds that they acted as employees of a disclosed principal and might not have possessed the criminal intent required for prosecution.
However, the agency said recent developments, including the participation of some workers in protests over the shutdown, had prompted a review of the decision.
The Commander disclosed that prosecutors had been directed to consider relisting the affected workers in the criminal proceedings if evidence established a greater level of involvement in the alleged illegal mining activities.
The Mining Marshals also rejected allegations that the enforcement action was influenced by financial inducement.
According to the agency, the complainant company had repeatedly complained of financial losses arising from its inability to commence operations due to the alleged encroachment, but had not provided financial support or logistics to the Mining Marshals for the operation that led to the arrests.
The Commander stressed that enforcement decisions were based solely on evidence gathered during investigations and not on the financial status of either party.
He reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to combating illegal mining and protecting legitimate mineral title holders, insisting that no amount of pressure, publicity or alleged blackmail would deter it from pursuing alleged violators of the nation’s mining laws.
The dispute between Stone Rockers and Lord’s Career Ventures has generated multiple legal proceedings and competing claims, with Stone Rockers maintaining that its closure was unlawful, while the Mining Marshals insist that the matter is before the courts for determination.