No fewer than 19 suspected illegal miners have been arrested and a rifle belonging to a slain police officer recovered following a deadly attack on a joint security patrol in Zuzungi Kataeregi village, Niger State.

The suspects were apprehended after security operatives were ambushed on Wednesday during a routine patrol around a mining site. During the attack, a police officer was lynched, his service rifle taken, and a patrol vehicle set ablaze.

Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the Nigeria Police Force in Niger State, Wasiu Abiodun, said on Friday that one officer was killed, another injured, and a firearm stolen during the assault.

According to him, the Command received a report on February 11, 2026, that suspected illegal miners attacked a joint security team assigned to Millennium Metals Company in Zuzungi village, Kataeregi, while on routine patrol around the company’s operational area.

He said the attackers set the company’s patrol vehicle on fire, lynched a police officer to death, carted away his rifle, and left another officer injured.

Abiodun disclosed that the Commissioner of Police immediately deployed reinforcements to the area. The following day, February 12, 2026, 19 suspects were arrested and the stolen rifle was recovered.

“All the suspects are currently under investigation at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Minna. Further developments will be communicated,” he added.

Earlier, the State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Siyaka Aniviye, condemned the attack, describing it as criminal, barbaric, and a direct assault on constituted authority and Nigeria’s economic stability.

He stressed that operations in the mining sector are backed by law, noting that mining sites and solid mineral resources are classified as Critical National Assets. He added that illegal mining constitutes economic sabotage under Nigerian law.

Aniviye explained that the joint patrol team comprised personnel of the NSCDC, the Nigeria Police Force, and local security operatives known as Anti-Drugs Control, working in collaboration with Millennium Metals Mining Company. The operation, he said, was aimed at curbing illegal mining activities and preventing the unlawful smuggling of solid minerals.

He stated that while intercepting individuals suspected of illegally transporting extracted minerals from the mining area, the security team came under heavy attack by armed illegal miners. During the confrontation, the assailants set ablaze an operational Hilux vehicle belonging to the NSCDC.

“Regrettably, an officer paid the supreme price in the line of duty. His sacrifice in defence of Nigeria’s economic assets and public safety will not be in vain and is deeply mourned,” Aniviye said.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government, through the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, condemned the killing, describing it as criminal murder. He vowed that those responsible would be tracked down and prosecuted, while reaffirming the government’s commitment to intensifying its crackdown on illegal mining across the country.