By KELECHI OGUNLEYE

The Independent Investigative Committee set up by the Federal Government to probe the deaths of 37 alleged illegal miners, has requested a two-week extension to tidy up its report.

The Chairman of the committee, retired Deputy Director, Department of State Services (DSS) Jonathan Kure, disclosed this during a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday.

Kure explained that the additional two weeks was to enable the committee put together a thorough and credible final report before submission to the federal government.

He stated that the initial submission date of Oct.7 would thereby be extended to Oct. 21.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the federal government had set up a 10-man investigative panel to probe the deaths of 37 suspected illegal miners who died in custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Niger Command on Sept. 17.

According to Kure, the committee is yet to conclude its assignment on account of the large volume of testimony and documentary evidences requiring meticulous review and collation, as well as pending forensic and pathology reports essential to establishing the cause of deaths.

“There is also the need to afford all persons implicated; including the officers already suspended, a fair opportunity to respond, so that the committee’s findings and recommendations can withstand scrutiny and command public confidence.”

Kure also revealed some steps the committee had taken to ensure a credible, transparent and effective report.

“Due to the peculiar nature of this investigation, we have been able to go to Minna, where we were able to interact with all the survivors.

“We were able to meet with bereaved families of all the deceased. We visited the mining site, as well as the state command headquarters of the NSCDC where the incident scene happened.

“We have also been able to meet and interact with all the NSCDC personnel were involved either directly or indirectly with the incident.

“However, we are still interacting with them, we are not through with that process because of the timeline given to us that by today we should have turned in our report,” he said.

The chairman further acknowledged the cooperation of the NSCDC management, Niger government and its emirate, members of the affected communities, survivors, witnesses among others.

He reiterated that the committee would do thorough job and would not relent until justice was served where necessary.

“I am assuring Nigerians that within the next two weeks, we are not going to sleep so that within that extended period, we will be able to submit a report that will be seen to have done justice where justice is due,” Kure assured.

He further commiserated with President Bola Tinubu and Nigerians on the military helicopter crash in Ondo. (NAN)