Obi’s Camp Tackles Alake over 37 Deaths

The Peter Obi Media Office faulted the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, for engaging in  political exchanges over Peter Obi’s record as Anambra State governor while questions remained unanswered over the death of 37 suspected illegal miners in the custody of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Niger State.

The media office, in a statement by its spokesman, Idris Zekeri Jnr, described Alake’s comments on Obi’s administration in Anambra as a distraction from the tragedy in the solid minerals sector.

The statement followed remarks by Alake, who, while speaking in his capacity as a spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, said Obi had “nowhere to hide” over what he described as the former governor’s poor record in Anambra State.

The Obi Media Office said the minister should, instead, concentrate on providing answers to questions surrounding the deaths of the 37 detainees, whose circumstances had triggered public outrage, protests, and calls for an independent investigation.

It stated, “Instead of fixing the catastrophic failures in Nigeria’s solid minerals sector, providing answers to these questions: Who authorised the operation?

“What safeguards were in place? Who failed? And who will be held accountable? A minister overseeing a sector at the centre of such a tragic episode is busy trying to create a distraction.”