NSCDC mobilises 2,220 marshals against illegal mining, seeks citizens’ support

Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has mobilised no fewer than 2,220 of its personnel as Mining Marshals to curb illegal mining in the country.

Disclosing this, at the weekend, in an interactive session with reporters, in Abuja, Commandant of the Mining Marshals, Attah Onoja, solicited the support of Nigerians and emphasised the outfit’s commitment to the enforcement of existing laws and working with sister law enforcement agencies to secure mining sites.

Onoja urged Nigerians to see the marshals as a Nigerian project, not driven by individual interest.

To secure the country’s natural resources, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Ojo, a few weeks ago, launched the NSCDC-led Mining Marshals, which represents the first layer of the new security architecture to secure the mining environment.

With a command structure spread across the 36 states, the command and control office is domiciled in the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development (MSMD), with an initial 60 operatives deployed in each state and the FCT.

He said: “The Mining Marshals will stop at nothing in ensuring full compliance to extant laws governing mining regulations in Nigeria, and whoever is found wanting, regardless of position or affinity to authorities, the law will take its course. Nigerians must begin to know that.

“It’s a rare privilege to be on such a national assignment and we will have to account for this opportunity. So, anybody meeting us should know that we are coming with the mindset to save the mining sector.”

According to the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF), Nigeria’s mining sector boasts 44 different types of commercially viable minerals worth $700bn, but limited capital injections, inadequate geo-mapping tools and widespread illegal mining have left the West African nation struggling to capitalise on its reserves.

Speaking on the idea behind setting up the Mining Marshals, Onoja said the outfit came up as a result of a pressing need of the nation to take adequate care of the sector, adding that part of the core mandate of NSCDC is the protection of critical national assets and infrastructure. “To this end, there will be no agency that will be better positioned or poised to deliver such an assignment or mandate other than NSCDC.

“From the commencement of operation, the Mining Marshal started with 2,220 operatives cutting across the whole country in all the states. More operatives are coming in. We are still in the phase of mobilising more men. All the states of the federation will be adequately taken care of in terms of Mining Marshals.”