Folalumi Alaran in Abuja
Officers from other security agencies of the government will soon swell the ranks of the newly-launched mining marshals.
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, announced the development yesterday, and emphasised that the newly activated Mines Marshall is an inter-agency security outfit to secure the mining environment.
Speaking in his office after a closed-door meeting with the Minister of Defence, Abubakar Badaru, Alake stated that with the unveiling last week of the first batch of marshals made up of 2,220 civil defence corps, plans were underway for sister agencies to add their officers to the structure of the outfit across the country.
Highlighting the role of the ministry in the operations of the Mines Marshall, the minister cited effective intelligence gathering through its state mines inspectorate, harnessing valid data of troubled mining areas and giving the requisite directives for precise operations as necessary factors for coordination of the activities of the Marshals from the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development (MSMD).
In his remarks, the Minister of Defence, Badaru, revealed that the federal government is already making a headway in routing illegal miners as clearance operations have commenced in some troubled spots.
“The illegal miners are already vacating because of the minister’s words and warnings. Where there is a need for reinforced security for operations, we will jointly provide that to ensure the mining sector operates well, and the country makes the necessary revenue that it deserves,”Badaru added.
The Mines Marshal, which represents the first layer of the new security architecture to secure mining areas, became operational, last week, with an initial specially trained 60 operatives each deployed in the 36 states of the federation and the FCT.
