As part of efforts to enhance the operational capabilities of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Mining Marshals, the Federal Government has procured and deployed eight operational gun trucks to intensify the crackdown on illegal mining across the country.
Babalawe Afolabi, Assistant Commandant of Corps and National Public Relations Officer, NSCDC National Headquarters Abuja, in a statement, said the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, noted that additional state-of-the-art technological equipment and armoured vehicles would be provided once budgetary provisions are secured.
Alake, who was accompanied by the representative of the Minister of Interior, Major General Abdulmalik Jibrin (retd.), expressed satisfaction with the unit’s track record.
He revealed that within just two years of existence, the Mining Marshals have apprehended over 300 illegal miners, prosecuted more than 150 suspects, and secured numerous convictions involving both local and foreign nationals.
According to the minister, the Mining Marshals, a specialised unit carved out of the NSCDC, have significantly contributed to boosting Nigeria’s non-oil revenue, helping diversify the economy away from petroleum dependence.
Alake strongly condemned the attempts by illegal miners and their collaborators to frustrate ongoing national operations, describing them as “saboteurs” and “enemies of the state” who would be dealt with to the full extent of the law.
Also speaking at the event, the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, represented by Major General Abdulmalik Jibrin (retd.) of the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB), commended the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development for its support.
He emphasised that the collaboration has helped safeguard the nation’s mineral deposits and pledged the Interior Ministry’s full backing for future training, increased funding, and enhanced firepower.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Commandant General of the NSCDC, Ahmed Abubakar Audi, represented by the Deputy Commandant General in charge of Technical Services, DCG Zakari Ibrahim Ningi, described the ministry’s intervention as revolutionary and unprecedented.
While describing illegal mining as a critical menace to national development, the Commandant General assured that the NSCDC would maintain its robust synergy with the ministry, promising that the newly acquired gun trucks would be deployed strictly for their intended purposes.
