The Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, on behalf of the Federal Government, has hired 2,220 security personnel. They will work under a new security plan to chase away illegal miners and those who break the country's mining laws.
They have also told the new officers to stop theft and other illegal activities related to the country's mineral resources. This is so the country can benefit as much as possible from its natural resources.
The Minister of Solid Mineral Development, Dele Alake, gave this instruction when he welcomed the specially trained officers from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps called the “Mining Marshal Corps” at the ministry headquarters in Abuja.
This is happening two months after President Bola Tinubu formed a committee led by the Solid Minerals minister to discuss ways to secure the country’s natural resources such as solid minerals, forests, and marine economy and stop illegal mining.
The mines marshal will have a command structure across the 36 states and the FCT. They will operate from the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development and initially have 60 operatives in each state and the FCT.
According to him, the official welcome of the marshals will ensure security at mining sites, eliminate illegality, and clean up mining environments to fight illegal mining and smuggling of solid minerals from Nigeria. He sees this as a big success in his plans.
He also mentioned that the mines marshal, as an inter-agency security group, will include special operatives from other security agencies like the Nigeria Police and army.
During the event, Alake said, “Insecurity has troubled the mineral sector and combined with other factors to reduce revenue. So, addressing insecurity in this sector is very important for improving revenue generation. The security of the operating environment in the mineral sector is essential for increasing revenue.
He added, “We hope the minerals will become a major source of revenue for the Nigerian economy and we want the mineral sector to contribute more than 50 per cent to the gross domestic product, which is our long-term goal.
“Today’s launch event and handing over of the civil defence structure to deal with illegal miners and clean up our mining environment was part of our plan from the inter-ministerial committee. We are pleased to announce that we are following through on our promise to tackle insecurity. The civil defence structure was already present and we believed it was needed for the new security plan for this sector.
The number of personnel per command will start with 60, but will increase as needed. The civil defence structure was used to start quickly, and other security agencies will join later.
According to NSCDC Commandant-General, Abubakar Audi, the new mines marshal will help protect national assets and infrastructure that involve solid minerals.
Audi said the marshals will work with mines inspectorate to gather information, and will be under the command of the solid minerals minister for effective execution of their duties.
Audi stated, "We have a list of illegal miners across the nation, and we will go after them. Their days are now numbered."
Hon. Jonathan Gbefwi, the Chairman of the House Committee on Solid Minerals, expressed satisfaction with the new security outfit. He believes that improved security around mining areas will bring positive economic changes to Nigeria.
Hon. Gbefwi praised the Minister for launching the Mines Police, which was initially met with skepticism. He assured continued support and cooperation from the House of Reps and the National Assembly.
The new Mines Marshal is led by Commander CSC Attah John Onoja.
